After the war
by Aingeal98
Summary: 15 years have passed since the Fourth Shinobi War. Seven years ago, Sakura fled Konoha. Now her son has come to the village and he has a mission: Become a shinobi and keep his identity a secret. But that will be harder that it sounds with Naruto's daughter on his case. Main pairing: NaruHina. Side pairings include SaiIno ShikaTema and slight SakuSasu and NejiTen.
1. Chapter 1

The full moon was bright in the sky, illuminating the entire forest. If you were travelling through the forest tonight, you would be able to jump from branch to branch without stumbling in the darkness. Of course, even in pitch black darkness, Nawaki could see perfectly well. This would be the last time in a while he would be able to use his sharingan, so he had it activated.

A few miles away, the village of Konoha was sleeping. Few travellers passed through the gates at this time of night so only Kotetsu was guarding. Izumo lay in the back of the guard house, dreaming of the day he would actually complete a proper mission. They had both become Jounin five years ago, and the Hokage still kept them running errands for him. However, unknown to them, things would get a bit exciting tonight.

The two figures traveling through the woods came to a halt at a seemingly random point. After looking around, the taller one pulled down her hood to reveal a young woman with pink hair. The other one-Nawaki- stopped as well. He scouted the area with his sharingan and seeing nothing unusual, deactivated it.

"Is this it?" he asked

The pink haired woman nodded.

"The minute you take another step towards the village the barrier team will know about it."

She turned and smiled at the young boy.

"I guess this is it." she said, placing a hand on his head. Even without his sharingan, Nawaki could see the tears dripping down her face.

He rolled his eyes at that. His mother could beat enemies five times her size, and yet she cried at the slightest hint of grief. He gave her a hug anyway. He wouldn't see her for a long time.

"I'll miss you Mom." he said quietly. He was only seven years old, and he was being thrust into an unfamiliar location with no one to help him. He would have cried if his pride would let him. His mother had always joked about 'The Uchiha Pride.' and how he was just like his father. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. He'd never met his father, but he knew who his father was. His mother seemed to have mixed feelings about his father, so he never knew how to react when he was mentioned.

"I'll miss you too." she said, kissing the top of his head. "Remember, your surname is Hachino and you're from a small town that was destroyed by bandits. Naruto's the nicest person I know so he should let you stay in the village. Don't let Uncle Sai see you in case he recognizes you, and keep dyeing your hair black. If you let it stay pink people might guess you're my son. Oh and-"

"I know Mom." he interrupted, cutting her off before she could continue her list. "Join the Academy, graduate as fast as possible, and stay away from the Uchiha district. Oh yeah, no sharingan and beware the Curse of Hatred."

She smiled and hugged him tighter.

"I doubt you'll have to worry about the last one." she said "You'll only be a genin so it's highly unlikely you're friends and teammates will die. But I still worry about this. Is it really the right thing to do?"

He looked up and saw the doubt in her eyes. He clasped her hand tightly in his.

"This has always been the plan." he said gently "I'm good enough to graduate as soon as possible and I'll see you once we get a mission outside the village."

She still looked uncertain about the whole plan. He could understand why, but he really wanted to do it.

"You named me after the Fifth Hokage's brother right?" he said "Wasn't it his dream to protect the village? I want that to be my dream too. I'm strong enough to do this."

His mother smiled affectionately down at him.

"I know you are darling. It's not you I doubt, it's me. I'm ashamed that I'm not strong enough to face the village again. I should be able to go and announce who we are. Instead, you have to create a fake identity for yourself. It's not right."

He hugged her tighter.

"I'm not blaming you mom." he said "It's not your fault things went wrong in the village. I wouldn't want to go back either. Besides we don't know how my father would react and this way creates less fuss."

She stepped away from him slowly.

"Are you completely sure about this?" she asked for the thirteenth time.

He nodded.

"I love living on Crescent Moon Island, but I want to try living in Konoha. If things go wrong I can escape."

Her tears had stopped now but she still looked upset.

"Ok then. Look out for Tsunade, I was her apprentice and trust me, she has a nasty temper plus an alcohol addiction. If there's a rehab centre in Konoha it was probably made for her..."

She was rambling now, not wanting to let him go. But she knew she couldn't talk forever. She gave him one last hug before turning back the way she came.

"Remember the golden rule." she called back "No taking revenge to the extreme!"

"I know!" he yelled.

He activated his sharingan again, just so that he could track her pink hair through the trees as it got further and further away. He stood there for a few minutes, letting the tears drip down his face. He didn't mind this time, it would make his story more believable when he met the guards.

He took a deep breath, and began his walk towards Konoha.


	2. Chapter 2

As the sun rose over the stone heads of the Hokages, the household of the current Hokage was going through its normal morning routine.

"Rasengan!"

"Obito, we just got that wall fixed last week!"

"So? The constant repairs help strengthen the economy."

"That's ridiculous."

"You're ridiculous!"

"Would you act you're age for once!"

"Says the six year old going on sixty!"

"You won't look so smug when Mother sees the giant hole."

"Sees what giant hole?"

The two children froze as Hinata Hyuga, head of the Hyuga clan, wife of the Hokage and their mother surveyed the room.

"Obito, why exactly did you think it was necessary to demolish our wall?"

"Uh well…" the boy rubbed his head sheepishly.

He gulped as his mother's glare intensified. Whoever claimed she was gentle and shy had never seen her when she was dealing with her kids. He quickly jumped through the hole in the wall and ran away yelling: "I've got a mission! I'll see you later!"

Hinata sighed, before turning to her youngest child. Thank goodness she hadn't developed the Byakugan as well. Obito was enough trouble, and he hadn't even hit the teenage years yet!

"Hisa, get dressed and grab some ramen for breakfast. You have to be at the Academy in twenty minutes and I need to wake your Dad."

"Shouldn't he be awake by now? Temari's dropping by his office in an hour."

Hinata's eyes widened. She ran out of the room, leaving Hisa to do as she pleased.

Yep, just a normal morning for the Hokage's children.

Hisa reached the Academy twenty minutes later. She ran into the room just as the bell rang. Iruka-sensei, now in his late thirties, gave her a quick smile as she made her way towards her seat. She collapsed into her seat, panting heavily.

Her friend Oki looked at her curiously.

"What happened to you?" she giggled

"Obito." Hisa growled.

Oki just grinned at her, before turning to face the blackboard.

Oki was Hisa's only friend. It was partly because they had known each other since they were babies -their parents were close friends- and it was partly because Hisa wasn't a sociable person. To be fair to her, most of the children in her class were twice her age. She and Oki had been bumped up to the graduation class a year ago, and she spent most of her time training anyways.

She began to focus just as Iruka-sensei finished the roll-call.

"Yamanaka Inori"

"Here."

"Yamanaka Oki"

"Here!"

Iruka snapped the register shut. As he began to say the daily announcements. Hisa noticed the new boy standing at the front of the room. He was around Hisa's age, maybe a year or two older. His hair hung loosely just above his shoulders, with bangs that framed his face. It was a light shade of black, not quite grey. His eyes made him stand out. He didn't appear to be looking at anything in particular, yet his gaze was intense. His eyes reminded her slightly of Oki's father. They were onyx and had no pupils. Suddenly, she realized who he looked like. His eyes were the exact same colour as Sasuke Uchiha's. She could see the slight resemblance to him in other areas of his face, but only his eyes were the exact match of Sasuke's.

Hisa frowned. She knew Sasuke's story, he was best friends with her father after all. Sasuke was the last Uchiha and he had no wife or children. There was the slight possibility that Obito Uchiha was still alive but sources seemed to say he was dead. This boy couldn't possibly be related to either of them.

As she stared at the boy some more, she noticed dark circles under his eyes. They were extremely heavy for a boy his age. She wondered if he suffered from insomnia. Hisa realized that she was staring so she quickly looked away before the boy noticed. Her eyes darted to his black shirt just to make sure there wasn't an Uchiha crest on it.

"Class, this is Nawaki Hachino." Iruka announced. "He has just arrived in the village yesterday. I hope you all make him feel very welcome."

"Why's he in our class?" a boy yelled

Hisa rolled her eyes. She was better than most of the class and she was only six. Why should this boy be any different?

Iruka seemed to be thinking the same thing, "He's in our class because we tested his skills and, despite not being from a shinobi village, his skills are good enough to beat yours Shikai."

The class laughed as Shikai sulked in his seat.

"Alright class," Iruka began "The graduation test is in a week, so we'll start off the day by practising the clone jutsu!"

There was a loud groan, which Hisa expected came from Shikai. The rest of the class mumbled to each other. Hisa sighed. She had been making clones since she was four. The day began to look very dull to her.

An hour later and Hisa was almost ready to fall asleep. She had had her turn twenty minutes ago. She was so bored that instead of just making one clone, she had made three and substituted one for her real self. It had taken Iruka three minutes to realize what she had done, and another five minutes for someone to find her hiding under a desk. Other than that, most of the children had managed to make a clone. Only two had not Hizashi Hyuga (Hisa's second cousin) and a boy named Lu Ten (He wasn't good at ninjustu or genjutsu, but his taijustsu alone was good enough to let him graduate)

Oki finished making a decent clone, and walked back to her seat. The only person who hadn't gone was the new boy-Nawaki. As he walked by Hisa's desk, their eyes met for a few seconds until he hurriedly looked away.

He reached the front of the classroom and looked at Iruka.

"Go ahead." Iruka said with a smile.

Hisa watched as he made a hand sign. She blinked for a second and when she looked again, there were five of him standing at the front of the room and the real him was sitting on her desk.

She realised what had happened and glared at him. He had just one-upped her by making an extra two clones.

Oh, it was _on._

He ignored the glare she was shooting at him. His eyes were focused on Oki.

"Hi." he said giving her a small smile.

It was hard to tell who was more surprised-Hisa or Oki.

"Um…hi." Oki said hesitantly

Before Nawaki could say anything else Iruka announced that they were going outside for some sparring.

Hisa grinned evilly. She would show him not to act better than her! She was the daughter of the Hokage! There was no way she was going to lose to him.

She waited patiently for Iruka-sensei to pair her up. The matches flew by. Oki lost to Inori and Shikai beat Chouko. Hizashi lost to Ning and Lu lost to Suki. Finally Hisa's name was called out.

"Hisa Uzumaki against Nawaki Hachino!"

Hisa grinned. This was _perfect._

She stepped into the circle and shook Nawaki's hand. Well, it was more like she _crushed_ his hand. She had to give him credit, he didn't even flinch. They stepped back and got into fighting stances.

"Begin!" Iruka yelled

Hisa ran at Nawaki and aimed a kick which he easily blocked. She then began raining punches down on him, never giving him a chance to counterattack. After five minutes of using him as a punch bag, she backed off. He didn't move from his spot, just staring calmly. Frustrated, she attacked again, determined to end the fight. He didn't attack, but his defence was solid. However, he couldn't handle every one of Hisa's punches. In the end, she saw and opening and took it, flipping him over her and pinning him to the ground.

She looked down triumphantly, expecting him to look defeated, or at least annoyed. He just stared up at her calmly. His eyes bored into hers. They were intense, yet calm at the same time. They were starting to worry Hisa a little bit. (She refused to say she was scared.) She quickly got off him the minute she heard Iruka announce her victory.

"Well done Hisa!" Oki said "That was an intense match!"

Hisa barely heard her. She couldn't stop thinking about his eyes. It was like someone had placed a genjutsu on her. The intensity of his gaze had startled her. It made her wonder what exactly had happened to the boy. Why was he here?

The rest of the day went by normally. As the final bell rang, she made her way towards home. Oki would usually walk with her, but she was spending the day with her family. Oki's father was in ANBU and her mother was the head of the Yamanaka clan. They both had very busy schedules and Hisa understood that Oki would want to spend some time with them.

As she walked she started thinking about the new boy. Something about Nawaki just interested her. He was a mystery, and for some reason, Hisa felt she had all the clues to solving it. She just didn't know what the clues were.

She was drawn out of her thoughts when she heard someone yelling her name. She turned around and groaned. It was her idiot of a brother and his teammates.

"Hey Hisa! Guess what we did today! We caught a really viscous cat in less than two hours! How cool is that? It was really hard too because Kiiromaru kept barking and scared the cat off and then Toruko used her bugs and it was really cool but creepy at the same time!"

"Obito shut up!" Hisa snapped. Her brother could talk for three hours straight without stopping.

His male teammate gave a loud laugh. Hisa glared at him. If there was someone who annoyed her more than Obito, it was Kawa Inuzuka. Between the two of them they could make her bang her head against a wall repeatedly. Their third teammate, Toruko Aburame was much quieter and more tolerable than the other two. She was the only kunoinchi on the team as well. Hisa had to respect her for putting up with the other two.

Obito and Toruko went on ahead, Obito chattering about a million things(Mostly about ramen) Kawa hung back to talk to Hisa. Or to irritate her. It was basically the same thing.

"So, did anything interesting happen to Your Highness at the academy today?"

She glared at him. She hated the stupid nickname but she had given up trying to stop him. She had asked him why he called her that and he had explained that it wasn't because her father was the Hokage. It was because of her stuck-up attitude.

She had punched him for that.

"Nothing much happened. We got a new student and I beat him at sparring. He made more clones than me though."

Kawa grinned

"He beat you at something. I guess you're not as good as you think you are."

Hisa instantly bristled. "At least I'm not a failure to my clan!"

His face darkened and he moved to catch up with Obito and Torune. Hisa sighed. She always said something she shouldn't when her pride was insulted. Truth be told, she actually liked his company. He irritated her, but he treated her like a normal person, not just the Hokage's daughter.

The rest of the day flew by. Hisa did all her Academy work and practised her justu. Finally, it was dinner time, the only time in the day when all her family got together. As usual, Obito and Naruto dominated the conversation, while Hinata listened to them with a smile. Hisa sat quietly on in her chair, not really paying attention.

"…and then I was like 'Lady, ninjas aren't tourist attractions. If you want to get more tourists, just set up a ramen stand!' She wasn't too happy but she agreed to try it, seeing as I am the almighty Hokage!"

Obito and Hinata laughed as Naruto finished his story. After a few minutes of eating quietly (Loudly in Naruto and Obito's case) Naruto turned to Hisa

"So how's the new student settling in at the Academy?" he asked

Hisa shrugged.

"He's quite good. He can make at least five shadow clones. I beat him at sparring though."

Hinata sighed.

"You beat the poor boy up on his first day?"

"It was a sparring match!" Hisa said defensively.

Her mother still looked worried so she quickly changed the subject.

"Where's he from Father?" she asked

Naruto grinned.

"Already trying to stalk him are we? You're just like your mother."

Seeing the two glares being sent across the table at him, he quickly cleared his throat.

"We don't know exactly where he's from. It's not a shinobi village anyway. He just picked up his skills from a wandering shinobi who spent a year or two living with him and his parents."

"Why is he here?" Obito asked curiously

Naruto's face grew angry.

"His town was attacked by bandits and burned to the ground. He's the only survivor."

Seeing the furious look on her husband's face, Hinata reached across the table and placed a soothing hand on his arm. He smiled at her, his face gentle and loving.

Hisa rolled her eyes while Obito made gagging noises.

Her mother glared at them for ruining the moment.

"That's it. Bedtime. Now."

"Why? So you and Dad can get it on?" Obito said grinning.

He quickly ran out of the room before his parents could kill him. Hinata turned to her youngest child, who was ignoring the massive killing intent directed at Obito.

"What are you and Dad 'getting on'?" Hisa asked, puzzled.

Hinata looked at her husband.

"You deal with this. _Gently._ I'm off to bed."

As Hinata left the room, she heard Naruto explain to Hisa.

"Now, you see what's happening to the kunai and the shuriken?"

"I said GENTLY!"


	3. Chapter 3

The first week of living in Konoha flew by for Nawaki. He soon discovered that there were a lot of setbacks as well as a lot of good things.

One disadvantage was the homesickness. He missed his mother terribly, and he also missed his home on Crescent Moon Island. Unknown to anyone, he had brought a photo along with him. It was a photo of him and his mother, sitting on a tree on the beach. He had just learnt how to climb trees with chakra, and his mother was giving him a hug.

If anyone from the Acadamy had seen him, they would have called him a Mama's Boy. But Nawaki didn't care. His mother was the person he was closest to in the world. But that was why he had come to Konoha-to make more bonds.

Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. He was five years younger than most people in his class, and out of the two people his age, one had decided that he was her rival.

Seriously, he didn't know what that girl's problem was. From the first day in the academy, she seemed to be annoyed that he had done better than her. For the past week she had gone out of her way to be better than him at everything. At first, he had just ignored it, and kept a grip on his pride. But losing to a tiny little girl over and over again was starting to irritate him, so he had begun to act as if they were rivals. The worst thing was, he was almost certain he was going to be put on a genin team with her.

However, there were some pretty good advantages to living in Konoha. One was the annoying girl's best friend. He had found out their names-Hisa Uzumaki and Oki Yamanaka. He had also found out that Hisa was the daughter of the Hokage, which amazed him. How could anyone as nice as the Hokage have such a jerk of a daughter? He didn't know who Oki's parents were yet, but he had a vague idea.

He didn't know why he liked Oki so much. He just did. Her skin was pale and her hair and eyes were the same shade of black. Her hair hung down her back, almost at her waist. She wore it up in a ponytail, with one strand hanging loose.

He had walked in the first day, and saw her laughing with Hisa. After that, he couldn't stop looking.

Maybe it was because she reminded him of Uncle Sai, the only person in Konoha who could possibly recognize him. He was wary of this, and made sure not to go near any ANBU he saw, in case Sai was behind one of the masks. He doubted Sai would actually recognize him. He had been three years old the last time Sai visited. He still remembered the smile of pure joy on his mother's face when she'd seen that ink bird coming towards them.

He was almost certain that Oki was Sai's daughter. Her surname was Yamanaka, and Nawaki knew Sai's wife was Ino Yamanaka, head of the clan. While he was excited he had a real link to Oki, he was also wary. He was almost certain he would be put on a genin team with Hisa and Oki. The closer he got to Oki, the more chance he had of bumping into Sai.

There was one other big advantage to living in Konoha, and that was meeting all his mother's old friends.

Naruto was the one who he had had the most expectations for. Everyone knew about Naruto. He was a legend in the shinobi world. But most people didn't know the personal side to him. His mother and father were probably two of the people who knew him best. He remembered hearing his mother's stories about the adventures they got up to, how Sasuke and Naruto used to save the day. Then, when Sasuke left, Naruto took the role of the hero fully.

One of his mother's favourite memories was the time she, Naruto and a boy named Rock Lee had spent on Crescent Moon Island. She would tell nawaki about the fun they had had together. But the best moments for her had been when she and Naruto had been alone. They hadn't done much except talk, but Nawaki could see how much his mother missed this man. It had made him even more curious to meet him.

After meeting him, Nawaki concluded that he was exactly like his mother said. He was bright, sunny, warm, and he made you feel safe and cheerful. Nawaki wanted to meet him again, just being near him made you happy. He still didn't understand how Hisa had turned out the way she did.

It certainly wasn't because of her mother. Hinata Hyuga was the best thing that had ever happened to the Hyugas, according to some branch family members. She took over as head of the family from her father. He was reluctant to give it to her, but the entire branch family had come together to support her, and he had given in. The last thing the village needed was another massacre.

She certainly matched the description his mother had given him. Kind, gentle, timid and he hadn't even met her yet! If the citizens had such a high opinion of her, there was no way she could be a horrible person. Apparently, she had abolished the caged bird seal seven years ago, which made her almost god-like to the branch family.

Nawaki had met lots of other people the past week. Shikamaru and Temari really did bicker like a middle-aged couple. (His mother's words, not his) and he had barely recognized Shino, even though his mom had described him.

He had caught a brief glimpse of Kiba and Akamaru (That was one huge dog) but he had yet to meet Tenten or Lee. But considering it was only his first week, he was pleased with himself. Much of his curiosity had been satisfied. But he was still curious about getting missions. His mom had described them as 'Exciting, terrifying and a huge amount of fun'.

Which was why Nawaki was practically bouncing in his seat as Iruka announced the teams.

"Team 7" he announced "Nawaki Hachino, Oki Yamanaka…"

Nawaki turned to smile at Oki. She gave him a small smile back.

"…and Hisa Uzumaki."

Nawaki sighed, he had been expecting this, but it didn't stop him from shooting the arrogant girl a glare. She ignored him, a slight smirk on her lips.

Nawaki almost laughed. Curse of Hatred? He doubted he would bother saving Hisa in the first place., much less try to avenge her. Too much hassle.

"Team 10. Inori Yamanaka, Shikai Nara and Chouko Akimichi."

_Of course they'd go with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio._ Nawaki thought _I'll have to watch out for them in the Chunnin exams._

Iruka finished off the role.

"Team 12. Hizashi Hyuga, Ning and Lu Ten."

_A Hyuga? _Nawaki thought glancing over at the boy. He wore the caged-bird seal openly on his forehead, and his face was completely unreadable. She felt sorry for the boy. If he had been born five years later, he wouldn't have to bear the seal at all.

"Okay class!" Iruka announced. "Today you can get to know your team! Tomorrow, you'll meet your sensei! Class dismissed."

The minute Iruka was finished, Hisa was out the door in a flash.

"I guess she doesn't want to get to know her team." Nawaki muttered

Oki shrugged. "She already knows me, and… I don't think she likes you very much."

"Really? I never would have guessed." Nawaki said sarcastically.

Oki giggled.

"She's probably going to spend the whole day training. So, do you want to come out for lunch with me?"

Nawaki's eyes widened.

"I'm a bit too young to be dating." he said regretfully.

Oki facepalmed.

"I meant as teammates."

"Oh. In that case, sure!"

They ended up eating in a traditional Japanese café. The type Nawaki loved. He ordered cabbage and onigiri with seaweed in it. Oki ordered hijiki and genmaicha.

As they waited for the food to arrive, Nawaki took his time to observe what Oki was wearing. Her clothes were very simple, which Nawaki liked. A pale yellow shirt and a pair of dark brown pant complete with the standard black shinobi sandals. He wondered what she would wear on missions. Come to think of it, what would _he _wear.

"Is it normal that your about to start your career as a shinobi and the thing your most worried about is what outfit you'll wear?"

Oki smiled.

"It's just nerves." she assured him. "I got them before the graduation exam, all I could think about was the new jutsu Uncle Naruto promised to teach me if I passed."

"You're close with the Hokage?" he asked.

She nodded.

"My dad was on the same team as him."

Nawaki was now completely sure that this was Sai's daughter. With that information secure, he relaxed, and as their food arrived, they made light conversation, getting to know each other. Nawaki found out that Oki had an older sister that she didn't get on with.

"Do I know her?" he asked

She nodded. "She graduated with us. Inori Yamanaka."

Nawaki vaguely remembered a girl with short blond hair.

"She's on the Ino-Shika-Cho team." he realised

Oki looked at him in surprise.

"How do you now about that?" she asked

He realised his mistake and searched quickly for an excuse.

"Word of the Fourth Shinobi War reached our small village as well." he lied smoothly. "The Ino-Shika-Cho trio were a legend in my household."

"Really." she said in amazement.

He could see she would ask more questions about his village and he quickly changed the subject. Lying to her was far more uncomfortable than lying to anyone else, even Naruto.

"We're finished our food. Let's go for a walk." he said

The two of them got up and exited the restaurant. As they walked away, they heard yelling. They turned around and saw the shop owner pointing at them.

"Someone catch those kids!" he yelled

Oki's eyes widened. She grabbed Nawaki's hand (Why were there butterflies in his stomach?) and started running.

"What's going on?" Nawaki asked, running alongside her.

"I don't know." Oki gasped "But if we get caught they'll send us to the police station straight away."

"Have you been there before?" he asked.

"Once," she replied, shuddering slightly "Trust me, it's not a nice place."

They ran for a few more minutes, weaving through the bustling streets. Nawaki wished he could stop and take in the sights, but Oki was still running. He tried to figure out what they had done wrong, but he couldn't think of anything.

Finally, they reached the edge of the village. Oki stopped running and sat down heavily on a stone bench. Nawaki realised where he was. This was where the old Team 7 had met as teammates for the first time. He recognised it well enough from his mother's description. This was also where Sasuke Uchiha had tried to kiss her. His mother had never understood why he had done that. Nawaki's guess was drugs.

They rested on the bench for a few minutes, trying to catch their breath. Oki looked worried about something.

"Sorry about all this." she said quietly. "The meal was a bit of a disaster."

Nawaki smiled and resisted the urge to take her hand.

"It's okay." he said "This was the most fun I had all day."

She laughed at that, then shivered slightly. The wind was very cold for Konoha. She moved slightly closer to Nawaki, unaware that his heart began beating twice as fast.

"This is nice." she said thoughtfully "I don't care what Hisa thinks, you're a really nice person."

Nawaki blushed.

"So are you." he mumbled

She looked up at him, and for a second Nawaki thought she was going to kiss him.

"Care to explain why I have a warrant for you're arrest?"

Nawaki jumped, startled.

He turned around and froze. The pale skin, the ANBU uniform, the emotionless voice…

Oki grinned sheepishly.

"Hi Dad."


	4. Chapter 4

Hisa's day had been boringly average, so much that she even considered looking for Oki. She quickly dismissed that idea though. The thought of Oki doing something like running from policemen made her laugh. That would never happen in a million years. Things like adventure and trouble always avoided Oki.

Everyone in her class had been very excited about who would be on their team, but Hisa didn't care. She knew she would end up with Oki (Which was good) and Nawaki (Which was very, very bad). So when Iruka-sensei had announced their team with his usual irritating enthusiasm, Hisa didn't quite feel like celebrating. In fact, she just wanted to go home. Her father had promised to get her a Summoning Contract with the toads as soon as she graduated, so she actually found herself _skipping _home. How odd.

She reached the Hokage's office and made her way to the fourth floor. Naruto was in his office, sorting through some paperwork and eating ramen. When he saw his daughter walk in, he smiled. He could see why Granny Tsunade always used to moan about paperwork. He would take any excuse to get away from it, and luckily for him, an excuse had just walked through his door.

"Hisa, my darling little girl!" he said "What great timing! Let's go teach you how to summon toads!"

Hisa blinked. That had been surprisingly easy.

Half an hour later, they were standing in the third training ground. Naruto summoned the contract scroll, and explained what Hisa would have to do.

"It's really simple." he said "First, you have to write your name in blood on the scroll. Then, you have to get blood from all of your fingerprints, and put it on the scroll. Then all you need to do is draw blood from your thumb and yell 'Summoning Justsu!' and bam! Instant toad!"

Hisa processed this in her head. There was a bit too much 'blood' in his explanation for her liking.

"Does it hurt a lot?" she asked, annoyed that she sounded so weak.

Naruto shrugged.

"Not really, but it was too much for Obito to handle. His excuse was that too busy mastering the Byakugan to devote himself to toads."

Hisa rolled her eyes. That sounded like Obito alright. As oblivious as her father might seem to some people, he knew how to coax her into doing this. There was no way she was going to pass up an opportunity to best Obito.

"Let's do this." she said

Naruto grinned.

"That's the spirit! Ok, first you'll need to stab your hand with a kunai."

"What?" Hisa yelped

Naruto laughed.

"Kidding, kidding. Just bite your palm really hard until you draw blood."

"Thank you father, that's _so _much better."

Ten minutes later Hisa stood over a scroll, trying to ignore the pain coming from her right hand.

"I thought you said it wouldn't hurt much?"

"Did I? It's probably different for me because of the Kyyubi."

She really wanted to throw a kunai at him then.

Still glaring, she knelt down and followed his instructions. Slamming her hand on the ground she yelled "Summoning Jutsu!"

When the smoke cleared, she was faced with the weirdest looking toad she had ever seen. He was a black and grey toad with dark markings around his eyes, mouth and a circular mark just below his mouth. The strange thing about him was that he was wearing a sash around his abdomen that appeared to be expanding up and down.

She looked at her father. Was this a normal toad? The expression on her father's face told her that no, this was not normal.

"What's wrong?" she asked

Unexpectedly, her father began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" she said, her fear growing. What kind of toad was this?

"Hisa," her father gasped between laughs "That's the first time I've ever seen someone summon a scroll toad on their first try!"

This just made Hisa even more confused.

"What's a scroll toad?"

The toad in questing gave a grunt.

"The brat summons me and she doesn't even know how to use me." he muttered

"It was my first time." Hisa informed him coldly.

The toad's eyes widened. To Hisa's surprise he grinned.

"I'm guessing this is your kid, eh Naruto?"

Naruto grinned proudly.

"Yep, this is Hisa." he said

This was more than Hisa could tolerate.

"Would someone explain to me what the hell is going on?" she yelled

Naruto saw the look on her face and deemed it best to explain before she blew up.

"This is Geromaki. He's a type of toad we call a scroll toad- a rare species that closely guards its contractor's secrets."

"How does it do that?" Hisa asked

The toad spoke up.

"It's simple, you just write your secret on my scroll-stomach," He pointed to his sash "And then I'll just live in your belly until you need me."

Hisa frowned.

"I don't have any secrets that need to be guarded."

Naruto suddenly found a massive interest in his feet.

"Well… actually…"

Hisa stared at him.

"What is it?"

"You… do actually have a secret."

"Would you mind telling me what it is?"

"Maybe when you're older."

"I'm serious."

Naruto sighed,

"It's probably best that I tell you this now, before you start your missions."

Hisa was beyond curious now.

"What is it?"

"You know how the Hyugas are descended from the Uchiha clan and the Uzumakis are descended from the Senju?"

Hisa nodded.

"Well a long time ago there was this Sage guy who had even cooler eyes than the Uchiha, he was the first shinobi, and he created ninjutsu as well. His super-powerful eyes were called the Rinnegan. This Sage guy had two kids, one founded the Uchiha clan, and one founded the Senju clan. Are you with me so far?"

Hisa nodded. She had no idea where her father was going with this.

"The thing is, if you mix the two DNA's together, you get the Rinnegan. A few people have gotten it in the past. Some used the First Hokage's cells and one crazy Uchiha gave his eyes to a little Uzumaki kid."

Hisa suddenly knew where this conversation was going.

"No Rinnegan has ever come naturally, since the two clans hated each other. But some people believe that if it ever does happen, the person who develops it is the Sage guy's reincarnation. It would be a huge deal if you got it."

Now Hisa was sure she knew what he was going to say.

"When Obito was born, there was a lot of hype about whether he would develop it. But when he got the Byakugan, the rumours died down. Then you were born with normal eyes like mine and the rumours started again."

He looked at her, all serious.

"The reason I'm telling you this now is that you'll face at least one life or death situation on missions. If this happens your Rinnegan could activate."

Hisa heard everything he said, but she couldn't wrap her head around it. There was a chance she would gain god-like powers very soon. She wasn't ready for this. She was only six! For once in her life, she regretted being a prodigy.

"So what happens now?" she asked

He shrugged.

"I don't know. If it doesn't activate, then nothing changes, but if it does…"

He looked at the frog.

"Is it ok if I place a seal on your stomach?"

The frog shrugged

"Sure."

Hisa watched in amazement as the frog expanded, then unfurled. He looked exactly like a scroll apart from his head and feet.

"That's so cool." she whispered, too stunned to realize what she had just said.

Naruto grinned.

"You won't be saying that when he's crawling down your throat."

"Wait, what?"

"On with the seal!" he exclaimed, ignoring Hisa.

He knelt down and began drawing symbols on the scroll. Hisa was very annoyed with her father. She had come here expecting to learn a new jutsu. That was all she had wanted. Instead, he had just casually told her that she could gain a power greater than the Uchihas. How was she going to tell Nawaki and Oki? It wasn't like they had any massive secrets they were hiding.

"The seal's finished!" Naruto said brightly "Now just open wide!"

"Wha-" Hisa barely began to talk when the frog jumped at her and forced his way down her throat. She knelt down and began coughing and retching. Her father seemed oblivious to her discomfort.

"Now that the seal's there it'll protect you." he explained "If you're Rinnegan ever activates, you'll be able to seal some of its power into this."

"How much power will get sealed?" she asked

He shrugged.

"It's up to you. There are seven unique powers that come with the Rinnegan, called 'Paths', the seal will let you supress as many as you like. But they won't be sealed permanently, you can unseal them too"

Hisa nodded. There was one question she had to ask, and she knew her father wouldn't lie to her.

"Father, how big is the chance that I'll develop the Rinnegan?"

Her father looked ready to reassure her for a minute, but when he saw the look in her eyes he stopped and sighed.

"I don't know." he said "I don't have a clue."

He smiled and ruffled her hair.

"I'm proud of you Hisa. You just mastered a difficult jutsu on your first try!"

With that, he left her to go back to the Hokage's office and deal with the lovely, lovely paperwork.

That night, Naruto and Hinata were in their room together.

"Checkmate."

"Argh! That's the third time I lost today! What do Shikamaru and Temari see in this anyway?"

Hinata smiled at her husband's antics. She carefully moved the shogi board off the bed.

"Come on, let's get some sleep."

Naruto obeyed and snuggled down in the bed, wrapping his arms around her. Hinata flushed. Fifteen years after they started dating and he still managed to catch her by surprise.

"Oh by the way, I told Hisa that she might develop the Rinnegan."

"You did WHAT?"

Yes, Hinata was definitely surprised that night. Unfortunately for Naruto, it was not the good kind of surprise.

Hisa lay awake that night, thinking about what a strange day she had had. On her way home, she had seen Oki and Nawaki in a tea shop, and part of her wished she had joined them. They had probably had a great time and might still be having one.

With that thought, Hisa fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Nawaki was not having a great time.

He was sitting in a cell in the police station with Oki, and he was fairly certain he was having a panic attack. Oki kept glancing at him with concern, but he was too busy remembering how to breath to focus on her. To be fair to him, he did have a lot to panic about. He mentally went over the list in his head.

Number One: There was a huge chance that Sai had recognized him. Luckily, all Sai had done was escort them to the police station. He had gone quietly, and Sai hadn't even asked for his name. He had been too busy telling Oki what her mother's mood was like and how she would have to tell her mother what had happened. Oki had looked completely terrified.

Number Two: If the Hokage found out he had been arrested, he could be thrown out of the village. He knew some people were still suspicious about him, since he was a stranger and he couldn't blame them. But he really liked Konoha and he wanted to stay.

Number Three (This was the worst one): He was sitting in a cell.

In a police station.

The _Uchiha _police station.

Run by _Sasuke Uchiha._

So yes, Nawaki was very worried about this situation. He was pretty sure things would get ugly very soon. Luckily, he had dyed his hair again this morning, so there would be no pink streaks sticking out. But he was still very worried. What made it worse was that Oki was here, and if she found out that he was lying to her, she would probably hate him. Something seemed to be bothering her. She was glancing nervously at him again and again. Finally, she began to talk.

"I'm so sorry Nawaki!" she said slight tears forming in her eyes. Nawaki was reminded of his mother, which made him smile.

"It's not your fault." he said gently "I'm happy I got to spend time with you. I'm not mad at you at all." _It's you that should be mad at me. _"We don't even know what we did wrong. We'll be out of here in no time."

Oki stared at him. Nawaki gulped. Had he said something wrong?

She jumped across the room and _glomped _him.

Nawaki had no idea what to do. None of his training had prepared him for something like this. What was with these Konoha girls?

He realised that Oki was laughing and he began to laugh too. Suddenly, she shifted slightly and threw off his entire balance. He fell on the ground with Oki on top of him.

They were silent for a minute, looking at each other, not really sure what to do. In the end, they both settled for laughing it off, and sat back up onto the bench. Nawaki prayed that she hadn't notice how fast his heart had been beating when she was on top of him.

Suddenly he heard footsteps coming towards him, and his heart came to a complete stop.

_All this heart stuff can't be good for my health _was the last clear thing he thought of before he began to have yet another panic attack.

The footsteps drew closer and closer. Nawaki held his breath as they came to his cell door. He breathed a sigh of relief when they walked past.

The footsteps suddenly turned around and walked back to his door. Nawaki closed his eyes tightly as the door swung open. He heard a voice come from the doorway.

"You're free to go now. Apparently there was a mix up at the restaurant. Some people forgot to pay their bill and the manager thought it was you."

The person walked away. Nawaki waited until he could no longer hear their footsteps before slowly opening his eyes. He scanned the room and found it empty except for Oki. Relief flooded through him. He was going to be ok. He wasn't being kicked out.

"Who was that?" he asked Oki.

She shrugged.

"Some random Hyuga I think. Some of them work at the station seeing as there's an absence of Uchihas."

Nawaki relaxed some more. Another worry down. Now there was only…

"So, what's your dad name?" he asked

"Sai." she replied "he doesn't have a last name so they gave me my mother's"

"Ah." Nawaki said, feigning curiosity. He needed to find out how much Sai knew. But he knew better than to start bombarding Oki with questions. He'd figure it out slowly.

They walked out of the station together. Nawaki was startled to see that the sky had gone dark. They had been in the station for much longer than he thought.

"We best go home." Oki said "We have to meet our new sensei tomorrow."

Nawaki nodded, remembering his mom's advice. _Watch out for the bell test._

He said goodbye to Oki and made his way home. He was living in a small two room apartment. It was a bit grotty, but Nawaki didn't mind. He didn't have much furniture, only the stuff that came with the flat and the picture of him and his mother.

_Tomorrow, _he thought as he fell asleep, _I'll have another picture to join it. One of the new Team 7._

The morning came a lot faster than Nawaki would have liked. One minute, he was falling asleep, the next, the sun was shining into his bedroom. The only food he had was dango, so he quickly gobbled some down, before setting off to the Academy.

He reached the Academy and was sent into a classroom to wait with Hisa and Oki. Oki seemed bright and cheerful, but something seemed to be bugging Hisa. She didn't even bother sneering at him as he entered the classroom.

He sat down and waited. And waited. And waited.

"Where the hell is this guy?" Nawaki snapped.

They had been waiting an hour and he still hadn't come. _Please don't let it be Kakashi. That would be too awkward._

Suddenly, the door slammed open, and a young man in his late twenties rushed in.

"I'm not late am I?" he gasped "There was a sale at Ichiraku's so Naruto sent me on a mission to get as much as possible. Sorry 'bout that. I'm not always this late. But I kinda forgot about you because the ramen was _really _good and Naruto wanted to see my new technique…" he trailed off as he actually looked at the genin in front of him.

Nawaki frowned. Who was this man?

"Uncle Konahamaru!" Hisa exclaimed

Nawaki blinked. Konahamaru? How many Uncles did Hisa have? He vaguely remembered something about a little kid who became Naruto's student. Was this that guy?

Konahamaru seemed to notice the confused expression on his face.

"Let's go up to the rooftop. I'll explain there."

With that, he poofed away.

"I hate it when he does that." Hisa muttered

"Who was that guy?" Nawaki asked

Hisa ignored him and walked out of the room, leaving Oki to explain.

"He's Konahamaru Sarutobi, Naruto's first and best student and the next in line to be Hokage. There's also a rumour going around about some kind of pervy technique but I don't really know much about that."

"Oh, ok thanks. We best get up to the roof now."

She nodded and they ran out after Hisa.

Soon they were all on the rooftop. The three genin sat on the steps, and Konahamaru leant against the railing.

"Let's start by introducing ourselves." he announced "My name is Konahamaru and I'll be your new sensei. I like ramen and chocolate covered bananas. I dislike people who want to be great without having to work for it and I already achieved my dream, so my desire is to protect the village."

Nawaki blinked. That had been strangely normal. He thought the introduction had to be very cryptic.

"I'll go next." Hisa said. "My name is Hisa Uzumaki. I'm the daughter of the Hokage. I can't really think of much likes, and I dislike a lot of things, especially my brother Obito. My dream is private."

With that said, she crossed her arms and stared into space.

"Um… I'll go next." Oki volunteered "My name's Oki Yamanaka. I have a big sister who I don't really get on with. I like drawing and I dislike dango. My dream is to protect my comrades. That's about it really."

Everyone turned to look at Nawaki. He gulped. What could he say that wasn't a lie?

"My name is Nawaki. I'm seven years old. I like teashops…" he looked at Oki and blushed. "I like onigiri. I don't have any real dislikes or a solid dream at the moment."

It was silent for a minute.

"Well this is boring!" Konahamaru exclaimed "Honestly, I'd rather just pass you all right now instead of having to give you a test, but sadly, that's the law. So I'll meet you at training ground three tomorrow at twelve for the test."

"Wait, we have a test?" Oki yelled

Nawaki winced. It seems she was the only one who didn't know.

"Yep." Konahamaru said cheerily. He suddenly gave a low chuckle.

"It's funny that the kids of the old Team 7 would be on the new one." he said "Nawaki, if either Sakura or Sasuke were your parent we'd have the set."

Nawaki felt his face heat up. What could he say to that? _Actually, they're both my parents, but Sasuke doesn't know. Please don't tell him._ Yeah, that would definitely go down well.

Oki and Hisa saw his uncomfortable expression and mistook it.

"His parents are dead." Hisa said coldly.

"Really? Sorry about that kid."

"It's fine." Nawaki muttered, wishing they could change the subject.

"Alright then, I'll see you three tomorrow. Oh yeah, if you fail the test you get sent back to the Academy. Bye!"

At with that, he disappeared in a puff, leaving a shocked Oki, an uncomfortable Nawaki and a bored Hisa on the roof.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, Hisa was down at the training ground two hours early. This was always the spot where she trained, and she needed to improve her skills if she was going to beat her sensei. The whole Rinnegan issue was at the back of her mind right now.

She knew that if she was the only one with a chance at getting a bell. Nawaki was good, but not good enough, and although Oki was her best friend, Hisa didn't think she was skilled enough. She would have to do it on her own.

Her father wouldn't tell her how exactly to pass. But it seemed simple enough. Defeat the sensei, get the two bells, give one to Oki so that she would pass and let Nawaki fail. It was flawless.

Two hours later, the other three members of her team arrived. Once the genin were all gathered together, Konahamaru explained the test.

"Ok, so basically I have these two bells that you have to try and get. One of you will definitely fail, and get sent back to the Academy. Um… I went over the test last night but I've forgotten the rest. It's got something to do with lunch and these poles, but I thought that was boring so I made my own version. We're doing the test in the Forest of Death."

He grinned proudly, before seeing the horrified looks on the genin's faces.

"What? You don't think this makes things more interesting? Come on! I had to get special clearance from Hanabi and everything." He shuddered. "Scary lady."

"Are you serious?" Hisa finally yelled

"So you agree? Great let's go!" He ran off before they could say anything else.

"Our sensei's a nutjob." Oki whispered

"He's just a bit… on the odd side." Nawaki said defensively "We best follow him."

The three of them set off after him. After a few minutes walking, they realised something.

"Where the hell is the Forest of Death anyways?"

So they made their way back to the training ground and had their lunch while they waited for their sensei to realise that they weren't following him.

It took him half an hour before he came storming back.

"Fine then!" he yelled "If you want to keep it boring so be it! You have until sundown to get a bell. Begin!"

Hisa immediately rushed off into the forest, without sparing a glance at either of her teammates.

Oki and Nawaki looked at each other.

"What do we do know?" he asked.

Konahamaru stood in the middle of the ground with his hands in his pockets.

"Are you going to talk all day or are you going to attack me?" he yelled

"Let's team up." Oki suggested

Nawaki nodded.

"Stand back." he warned

He took a deep breath, "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

A giant fireball erupted from his mouth and raced across the field towards Konahamaru. It destroyed half the field in its path.

When it had disappeared, they saw Konahamaru running off into the forest. Unknown to them, Hisa was also watching from behind a tree.

Nawaki and Oki ran after him, and Hisa trailed behind.

"That was amazing!" she heard Oki say.

Even from a distance she could see the blush on Nawaki's face. _You weren't that good. _she thought _You were lacking control. Besides, no one ever gets hit by that jutsu. It's practically there just to look cool._

To her surprise, Nawaki seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Thanks, but I wasn't that good. I lost control of it at the end."

"It's still better than any jutsu I know." Oki argued

"Oh yeah, what would you say is your strongest abilities?" Nawaki asked "Anything you're good at could be used to defeat sensei."

"I'm not good at much." Oki admitted "I know the three basic jutsu, but I prefer using my sword." She showed him the tanto on her back.

"What about you?" she asked

Hisa didn't bother listening to what he said. He would be gone by tomorrow anyways. She continued trailing them through the trees, until something caught her eye. Nawaki and Oki were wearing the exact same thing, black shirt, black pants and black sandals. _How dumb is that? _she thought _They should try to have a little creativity._

Her musings were cut short when the two stopped on a tree branch.

"There he is!" Oki whispered.

"I see him." Nawaki replied.

He made the hand signs so fast, Hisa could barely see them.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

Hisa's eyes widened. _Another Fire Technique, _shethought, _that's pretty impressive._

Once the fire had died down, Oki and Nawaki scanned the area.

"Where did he go? Did I get him?"

Hisa saw a figure move through the trees until he was directly behind them. His back was turned towards her and he was focusing only on the other two. Perfect.

"Hard luck you two." Konahamaru said "But your teamwork is quite good."

He was completely distracted. Hisa jumped across, kunai aimed at his back. _This is it, _she thought.

The kunai lodged in the small of his back. Oki screamed as he crumpled to the ground.

"Got him!" Hisa yelled triumphantly.

The man on the ground disappeared in a puff of smoke.

_Dammit, _Hisa groaned _It was a shadow clone._

Konahamaru's voice echoed through the forest.

"That was pretty good teamwork you three." he said. Hisa couldn't locate where his voice was coming from.

"What do you mean 'teamwork'?" Nawaki yelled "Hisa didn't tell us anything!"

"I knew you two couldn't beat him so I used you to distract him while I stole the bells." she snapped.

"We're more than just distractions." Nawaki snarled

Hisa shrugged "If you can't even beat me than to most opponents that's exactly what you are."

"Who says I couldn't beat you if I tried?" he yelled

"You never have before." she pointed out.

"This time I'll actually try!" he yelled.

He jumped across the tree branch, fist extended. She jumped straight at him to meet him in the middle. Oki sat a little way away watching them. _I've a feeling something like this has happened before _she thought _should I try to stop them? Nah, they can handle it._

Just as the two of them were about to collide, someone grabbed both of their wrists and flung them away from each other.

_Yep. Definite Déja vu. _Oki thought to herself _But why do I feel like this?_

Konahamaru stood where the other two had been about to meet. He did not look happy.

"Everyone meet in the centre of the field." he yelled "I'll say who passed and who failed then."

Three minutes later, the three genin sat in the centre of the clearing.

"Alright well, you all did so badly in the test that I felt the need to end it early and just tell you the results."

Hisa frowned. She didn't think she'd done to badly. Her plan had almost worked, and she could have tried it again if Nawaki hadn't lost his temper. Perhaps he and Oki would fail because they hadn't even come up with a half decent plan.

"Alright, I've made my decision." Konahamaru announced. "Nawaki and Oki pass. Hisa fails."

There was a stunned silence.

"What!" Hisa screamed "How could I fail? I came up with the best strategy and I would have gotten a bell if it wasn't for _him_." she pointed at Nawaki, who was looking very confused.

"You still don't get it do you?" Konahamaru sighed "This test wasn't about skills or strategies, it was about _teamwork."_

Hisa was stunned. She had been tricked. A shinobi was supposed to see through deception, and she had failed. Her sensei had outsmarted her.

_Well, looks like I'm going back to the Academy,_ she thought. It wasn't that much of a big deal. She'd just graduate next time, and work on her perception skills until then. Next time, she would guess what the test was about, and would play along.

_This test was ridiculous anyways. _she fumed _Teamwork is important, but it can sometimes be useless. He should have based the test around something different._

She was brought out of her internal fuming by Oki. She had stepped forward and was confronting Konahamaru.

"You can't send Hisa back." she said "We're a team, and this was about teamwork. What's the point of this if we aren't allowed stay as a team?"

_She has a point. _Hisa realised, surprised at Oki's shrewdness.

What surprised her even more was when Nawaki stepped forward.

"If you're going to fail her you might as well fail us too." he said. "My teamwork wasn't good either. I got in a fight with her at the wrong time."

_At least he knows he was wrong. _Hisa thought, completely missing the fact that he was defending her.

Konahamaru looked at them.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked.

When they all nodded back at him, he sighed.

"Fine then." he said slowly "YOU… ALL…GET… to stay as genin. See ya!"

He disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Hisa blinked.

"Did we just… pass?"

That night, the Hokage and his wife were currently in his office, exchanging stories about their day.

"How did Hisa get on?" Hinata asked.

Naruto grinned. "She failed miserably. But her teammates bailed her out, so she didn't get sent back."

Hinata was surprised at this. "It's not like Hisa to fail. Do you think Konahamaru went too hard on her?"

Naruto shrugged. "He mentioned something about the Forest of Death. So maybe it was too tough."

He saw the look on his wife's face and stopped.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Hinata looked ready to kill.

"You're telling me that he sent my six year old daughter into the FOREST OF DEATH?"

Naruto thought about it.

"Oh yeah! He came by my office to ask me if he could. I wasn't really paying attention so I just said yes."

When felt the Killing Intent radiating off Hinata, Naruto felt like he might have said something wrong. He wondered what?

"You… said… YES!"

Oh, that was what.


	7. Chapter 7

When Nawaki's mother had told him about doing missions, she'd never mentioned D-Ranks.

It turns out there was a reason for that. D-Ranks were _terrible. _Seriously, why did shinobi need to catch cats? Or paint fences? It was completely stupid. Two weeks had passed since the bell test and Nawaki had done nine D-Ranks. The one he was currently doing was his tenth. The three genin were were cleaning a local lake, while Konahamaru sat on a chair 'supervising' them. Nawaki was pretty sure that he could find some jutsu to clean the lake, but he said it was a 'learning experience' for the genin.

Nawaki was getting impatient. He wanted an escort mission or something that would allow him to leave the village for at least a full day and night. His mother had promised to visit him when he got a C-Rank, and these D-Ranks made him even more irritable.

He kicked a plant in frustration. He missed his mother. He missed Crescent Moon Island. He would rather be back in his home than doing this. But Nawaki wasn't a person who complained and did nothing, so he resolved to clean the lake as fast as possible.

He grinned. It was time to show off his skills.

He pulled both his feet out of the water, and filled them with chakra. It had been a while since he water-walked, so his balance was a bit off but he managed to stay steady. He grabbed his net and began to run, dragging the net along behind him. As he ran, he looked at his team. Konahamaru and Oki were both staring at him in amazement, while Hisa was glaring at him. He was pretty much used to her glares, so he ignored her and smiled at Oki instead. Part of him was extremely glad he was better than Hisa at something.

Suddenly, his net caught on a rock and he fell into the water with a splash. He choked and spluttered until someone yanked him out. Hisa stood over him smirking, while Oki stood next to her giggling. Nawaki flushed in embarrassment. He grabbed his net and continued to clean the lake the normal way. It seems that today was not the day to show off his skills after all.

They finished two hours later and made their way to the Hokage's office. Naruto was throwing kunai at the wall, but when they walked in he hurriedly pretended to be looking at some paperwork.

"Hey Team Seven." he grinned "I suppose you finished cleaning the lake."

Konahamaru began to talk, but Hisa interrupted him.

"Yes Father we did." she said stiffly "But may I suggest giving us a more difficult mission? We are the best and most promising genin team you have, and it would be a shame to let us go to waste."

Nawaki was surprised at her outburst. It seemed he wasn't the only one who was sick of D-Ranks. He had to give her some credit. She had guts to speak to the Hokage like that, father or not.

Naruto looked at Konahamaru for advice. He just shrugged.

"I swear I didn't put her up to this. I don't see the harm in a simple C-Rank."

Naruto sighed.

"Fine, I'll give you a C-Rank. But Hisa, you'll have to tell your mother yourself. There's no way I'm going to explain this to her."

Nawaki grinned as Hisa flushed in embarrassment.

"Very well Father I accept your conditions." she held out her hand.

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"There's no need to be so formal. If you want to seal a deal do it with a fist bump, not a handshake."

The rest of the team laughed as Hisa scowled.

"Alright guys, I have the perfect mission for you!" Naruto said.

He reached down onto his desk, picked up a piece of paper and glanced at it, before flinging it over his shoulder. "Not that one." he muttered. This happened eight more times before he finally found the right mission.

"Here it is!" he said brightly "A C-Rank find and deliver mission. All you have to do is find a weird looking blue diamond for a small village. They even gave you a map! The village is pretty near to the Hidden Mist so it'll take you around three days to get there."

Nawaki smiled. If he could, he would be dancing around the office. Finally! A real mission!

Konahamaru took the paper and glanced at it.

"Seems pretty average to me." he said "The village is pretty near to the Wave village. Do you want me to get some stuff from Inari while I'm there?"

Naruto nodded. "That would be great. Tell him I said congrats on his engagement."

Konahamaru nodded, and then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I hate it when he does that." Hisa grumbled. "Can we go now?"

"There's one last thing." Naruto said. "They specifically said that they wanted Chunin or higher, so I'm giving you all ANBU uniforms, minus the mask and tattoo. If anyone asks you're a special branch."

Hisa frowned. "Why would you give us ANBU uniforms?"

Naruto shrugged.

"It was the first idea that popped into my head. Plus I've always wanted to see little kids dressed like ANBU. Promise me you'll take a picture so I can show Gaara and be like 'My village is more advanced than yours'!"

None of them really knew what to say to that, so they just grabbed their uniforms and walked out of the office. The minute Nawaki was alone, he broke out into a dance.

"C-Rank. C-Rank, yes!"

He noticed some people staring at him, so he quickly made his way back to his apartment so he could celebrate in private.

The next morning, Team 7 stood ready at the gates of Konoha. All of the genin were wearing their fake ANBU uniforms. Nawaki understood what Naruto had meant, the uniforms made them look badass.

"Smile." Konahamaru said as a photographer took their picture. Oki and Konahamaru smiled, but Nawaki accidently stood on Hisa's foot, which caused her to elbow him. They both ended up glaring at each other.

The photographer smiled. _Ah, memories._

Just as Nawaki was about to set off, Oki tapped him on the shoulder.

"My parents want to meet you." she said, her cheeks going red. "I'm not sure why, maybe Dad saw us in the restaurant and got the wrong idea."

Nawaki froze. He felt like he was slowly crumbling apart. Sai knew. He had no doubt about this now. What could he do?

He realised that he couldn't do anything except meet with him and try to convince him not to tell Naruto or Sasuke. _Please don't let him tell Sasuke._

Trembling, Nawaki made his way over to where Sai was standing with a beautiful blonde woman. _This must be Ino_. Nawaki thought. Of course Sai would have told Ino. She was his mother's best friend.

When he reached them, they stared at each other. Nawaki wasn't sure what to say. Luckily, Ino started talking.

"So this is Nawaki huh," she said, scanning him from top to bottom. Nawaki began to feel very self-conscious. Finally, she stopped scrutinizing him and nodded appreciatively.

"Sakura and Sasuke did a good job. Of course, it's basically impossible for Sasuke _not_ to be good at anything, so I guess I should have expected this."

Once again, Nawaki had no idea how to respond to this. Sai smiled at him.

"Please excuse my wife." he said in a detached voice. "She sometimes makes horrible first impressions, but I assure you, she is actually a normal enough person."

Ino punched Sai in the face, then she turned to Nawaki with a smile.

"You don't have to worry," she chirped "We won't tell anyone about you."

"You won't?" Nawaki said in confusion "Why not?"

Ino shrugged.

"We figured it was best to let Sakura go ahead with her crazy schemes without getting involved. When it comes crashing down we'll do our best to bail you out, but until then we're just going to enjoy the show." she laughed and nudged Sai. "Let's arrange a meeting between Nawaki and Sasuke. It'll be hilariously awkward!"

"Please don't." Nawaki mumbled worriedly. This woman was slightly crazy.

Sai gave him a creepy smile. "We'll let you go in a minute. There is just one last thing. As a father, I believe I should give some kind of speech about staying away from my daughter. Isn't that what fathers are supposed to do?"

Nawaki went bright red at this. Once again, he had no clue what to say.

Ino rolled her eyes. "They're only seven Sai, it's not like he knows how to do anything except blush at her."

She noticed Nawaki getting more and more uncomfortable. "You can go now." she said. "Oh, and when you see Sakura tell her that Oki is our daughter. She'll like that."

This made Nawaki even more confused, but then again, this whole conversation was both embarrassing and confusing. He ran away as quickly as possible. _My mother has a strange taste in friends. _

They soon set off on their mission. As they walked, Konahamaru explained a bit more about their mission.

"It's a pretty standard mission." he explained "Some village are in debt and they want to find this diamond to save them. Apparently, it has some sort of power that other villages are after. According to legend, the diamond once belonged to this village but the village leader hid it away so that enemies couldn't steal it. Now they want it back, but they're all too scared to try and get it. Apparently there are a lot of traps and dangers leading to it."

"So they get us to do it for them." Nawaki grumbled. "How nice of them."

Konahamaru grinned. "Exactly. Most of them are too scared and the rest are too lazy."

They decided to take to the trees for a while, as they had enough chakra to stay fairly energised. As they travelled, doubts began to creep into Nawaki's mind. Would his mother really come? How would she know where he was?

As the night began to fall, they reached the border of the Fire Country.

"We'll camp here for the night." Konahamaru announced.

It took them half an hour to get their tents up. They only had two tents, so Hisa and Oki were sharing one, and Konahamaru and Nawaki were sharing the other. This was a problem for Nawaki. If his mother came, he would have to sneak past the jounin. He didn't think that would be the best idea.

"Can I sleep outside?" he asked.

The others looked at him curiously.

"Sure. But why?" Konahamaru asked.

"I like looking at the stars. They remind me of my old village." he explained.

This wasn't exactly a lie. He had spent many a night on the beach, in Crescent Moon Bay. His mother had taught him most of the constellations.

_"That one is called the Six Paths. Do you see the way the stars form a semicircle? It's the shape of the Sage of Six Paths' necklace. The star next to it is the brightest star in the sky. I call it the Naruto star, if you ever meet him you'll see why."_

As he lay on the grass that night, he was able to see the Naruto star. He knew now why his mother called it that, he really did shine brightly compared to everyone else.

He lay on the grass for another two hours, finding all the constellations he knew. His eyes got heavier and heavier, and in the end, he nodded off.

_She's not coming. _he thought sadly.

He didn't know how long he slept for. It seemed like only a few minutes before someone was shaking him awake.

"I'll be up in a minute Hisa." he mumbled sleepily.

"Who's Hisa?" a voice he knew very well asked

His eyes flew open and he jumped to his feet.

"Mom!" he cried, flinging his arms around her.

Sakura Haruno smiled down at her son.


	8. Chapter 8

Nawaki never realised just how much he had missed his mother until he was sitting next to her on a tree branch discussing his life in Konoha. It wasn't even that he had missed talking to her; he just missed the safety that came with being in her presence.

When he had been alone in his apartment, his fears had crept to the front of his mind and there was nothing to get rid of them. At any minute, he expected the ANBU to burst in and arrest him, or for Sasuke Uchiha to run in and demand to know why he suddenly had a son. He knew that his fears were illogical, but that didn't make them go away.

But here with his mother, he felt completely safe. Even if one of his teammates were to find him, he felt like it wouldn't be such a big deal. There would be a way to explain it, and if there wasn't, he and his mother could escape together and go back to Crescent Moon Island. Nothing could go wrong tonight; at least, that was how Nawaki felt.

"So how's life in Konoha?" Sakura asked.

"I love it." Nawaki confessed. "I love the people and I love the village. It's just so… full of energy. My team is nice too."

"Who are your teammates?" she asked.

"Naruto's daughter and Sai's daughter. Hisa-that's Naruto's daughter-is a bit of a jerk, but I like Oki. My sensei is Konahamaru Sarutobi."

She looked surprised at that.

"Konahamaru is a jonin now? Good for him. Did you say Sai and Ino named their daughter Oki?"

Nawaki nodded, remembering his conversation with them.

His mother smiled. "That was nice of them." She saw Nawaki's confused expression and explained "Oki is derived from the name 'Oka' which means 'Cherry-Blossom'. Although, I think Oki means something completely different. Still, it was a nice gesture."

Nawaki thought she should mention the conversation he had had with them.

"They know." he said. "Sai and Ino, I mean. They know about me."

To his surprise, she remained calm.

"What was their reaction?"

"They decided to let you go ahead with your 'crazy scheme' and that they have your back when it all goes wrong."

Sakura snorted. "What makes them so sure it'll go wrong?"

Nawaki shrugged. "They seemed to have some past experience."

Sakura sighed. "Honestly, one plan to see Kakashi's face goes wrong and suddenly all you're plans are crazy."

Nawaki decided not to ask. He had learnt from an early age that some of his mother's stories are best left untold.

"Actually, I really want to talk to you about something." he saw his mother's curious expression and decided to tell her. "I think there's something wrong with me."

"Like what?" his mother asked, he could see she was worried.

"Whenever I get to close to Oki I blush like crazy and my heart goes way to fast. I know some people blush when they like someone, but I do it far too often to be normal. Do you think I'm sick?"

His mother relaxed. She smiled amusedly at her son.

"I'm afraid you get that from me. When I was a kid I used to blush every time I saw Sas-your father. It's not exactly normal to blush that much, but you're not ill. So, do you like this Oki girl?"

Nawaki shrugged. "She's a really nice person and she's my closest friend. I think I do like her a bit though." He looked up at his mother. "What should I do?"

Sakura smiled at her worried son. "Don't be so nervous, you're only seven. My advice would be not to call her '-chan' I didn't like it when Naruto called me that. Don't start being a fanboy either, just treat her like a friend. Maybe when you're both older you will come together naturally. But for now, focus on your missions and on your friendship."

Nawaki relaxed. That was another worry down. Now there was only one big issue left, and unfortunately, Nawaki knew it wouldn't be as easy to solve.

"I want you to come and live in Konoha." he said. "Naruto wouldn't mind, he'd let you back in easily, even if you are a missing-nin."

Sakura stiffened at this.

"You know why I can't go back. I won't go anywhere near _him_. If he leaves the village again, I'd gladly come back, but until then, it's just not possible. What could I say to him? _Do you remember when we were twenty five and you took my virginity? Yeah, you have a son because of that. I left the village so you wouldn't find out. Sorry about that._"

Seeing her son's sad expression, she gave him a hug.

"It's not that I don't want to, I miss you so, so much. But I know you're strong enough to do this, and I'll visit you every time you get an overnight mission." Nawaki still looked upset so she quickly changed the subject.

"Did you meet all my old friends?"

He brightened up instantly.

"Yes! Naruto was exactly like you told me! He was really nice and I felt really bad about lying to him. I haven't met Hinata yet but I've heard about her from the villagers. All the shinobi seem to think she's lovely, especially the Hyuga. "

Sakura smiled at how fast his mood changed. With the way he acted, sometimes she forgot he was only a little kid.

"Who else?" she prompted.

"I saw Shikamaru and Temari arguing about something. He called her a 'troublesome woman' and then she kissed him. How strange is that? Their son graduated with me along with Ino's oldest daughter and Choji's son. Ino and Sai are weird, but in a nice way. Oh yeah, Tenten's son graduated with me as well. But he's not very good, which is weird considering who his dad is. I think Lee is his sensei."

Sakura smiled as she tried to follow her son's rapid speech. It seems he had met a lot of her old teammates.

"Anyone else?" she asked.

Nawaki thought about it for a minute.

"I think that's everyone, but I feel like I'm forgetting someone."

Back in Konoha, Shino was in the middle of a lecture when he gave a sneeze. One of his students screamed when a bug shot out of his nose, while the other two grinned.

"That's awesome." they yelled.

Shino smiled, although no one could see it. He had long gotten over being ignored, especially when his students gave him so much attention. Still… Shino couldn't shake the feeling that someone was ignoring him. He dismissed the feeling as he had no proof, and got back to his lecture.

"So you really like Konoha ?"

Nawaki nodded.

"I want to stay there and become a chunin, maybe even a jonin."

She smiled down at him.

"Well, when you take the Chunin Exams, I promise I'll be in the crowd watching you."

"How will you manage that?" he asked curiously.

She smiled knowingly. "I have my ways, especially with Sai and Ino helping me. Mind distraction jutsus have a lot of good uses."

Nawaki laughed, then yawned. It was past three and he would be getting up early tomorrow.

"I'll let you get some sleep now." Sakura said.

Nawaki shook his head frantically. He didn't want her to go!

"I can't stay here forever." she said sadly. "Besides, I know you'll be fine. I contacted the people who were supposed to kill you tomorrow. They'll delay you, but they'll let you all live."

Nawaki was curious. "Do I know them?"

His mother nodded.

"You met one of them before when you were little, but he won't give you away. He's the next in line to become Mizukage."

"I don't remember him." Nawaki said.

"Don't tell anyone you know this, but his name is Suigetsu Hozuki."


	9. Chapter 9

Hisa was having a perfectly normal morning until someone tried to kill her.

She and her team had gotten up early and continued on their way. They were currently walking beside a lake. The walk was very dull, as Konahamaru didn't talk much and the other two were having their own private chat.

That was another thing about Nawaki that irritated Hisa- he was a friend-stealer. Oki had been _her _best friend for ages. Then Nawaki just comes along and suddenly Oki is spending all her time with him.

She was too lost in her thoughts to notice the kunai coming at her. Luckily, Konahamaru did.

"Duck!" he yelled shoving the three genin onto the ground. Hisa saw the kunai whistle over her head and lodge into the tree in front of her. She tried to stand up but Konahamaru pushed her back down.

"What's wrong? The kunai have stopped!" she snapped.

Konahamaru shook his head.

"Stay down until I give the signal." he hissed

Hisa felt like ignoring his orders for a minute until she felt something even bigger fly over her head. She saw what it was as it cut into the tree and stuck there. It was a huge sword, shaped like a giant butcher knife. It had two cut-outs, a circle close to the top and a semi-circular one nearer the handle. It looked extremely dangerous.

"Everyone get up and stay on your guard." Konahamaru ordered.

As soon as everyone was up, a figure dropped out of the trees and landed on the blade of the sword.

_I'm getting that Déjà vu thing again. _Oki thought. _Why does it keep happening?_

Hisa looked at her teammates. Konahamaru looked more worried than Hisa had ever seen him. Oki looked terrified. She kept flicking her hand back to grab her sword. Nawaki looked completely calm, which confused and angered Hisa. Couldn't he see how dangerous this situation was? She herself was scared. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she didn't even know who her enemy was!

As the man on the sword turned to face them, Konahamaru let out a curse.

"Long time no see Hozuki." he said "Do you mind explaining why you're attacking my team?"

The man smirked, letting one of his pointed teeth show. He casually ran his hand through his pure white hair.

"Trust me, I really don't want to do this." he said with no regret in his voice "It's just a mission, ya know? I was hired to get this weird gem thing and to stop anyone else who was trying to."

Konahamaru sighed.

"Fine then, let's fight. But leave the kids out of it okay?"

The man grinned, bloodlust clearly visible in his eyes.

"Sounds good to me. But if one of the brats tries to interfere I won't be responsible for my actions."

"Who is this guy, sensei?" Oki asked.

"This is Suigetsu Hozuki, one of the most powerful ninjas in the Hidden Mist. He's the leader of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen and he's the Mizukage's successor."

Suigetsu grinned.

"I'm flattered that I've got such a reputation, but don't think that I don't know who you are. This'll be quite the fight won't it? The next Mizukage versus the next Hokage."

Hisa was surprised at this. She knew Konahamaru was good, but she didn't know he was her father's chosen successor.

"You three stay out of this. You'll only end up dead." Konahamaru ordered.

Normally, Hisa would have ignored him and fought anyway, but right now, she was too scared to do anything except nod obediently.

Konahamaru took a deep breath, before jumping straight at Suigetsu. He threw a punch which Suigetsu blocked. Suigetsu tried to grab his arm but he dodged and punched Suigetsu in the stomach. Hisa gasped when Suigetsu simply turned to water, but Konahamaru remained unfazed. He grabbed Suigetsu's arm and flung him off the blade. Now they were both fighting on the ground.

Konahamaru made some hand seals that were too fast for Hisa to follow. Then he took a deep breath.

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Bombs!"

Hisa gasped as the fire came out of his mouth. It was like a hotter, deadlier version of Nawaki's jutsu. The heat of it reached her from where she was standing. There was no way Suigetsu could survive that.

Suigetsu simply chuckled. He made a hand seal.

"Water Style: Water Wall!"

Hisa looked at the lake that was next to them. The water rose up and swirled around Suigetsu, shielding him from the fire. When the fire stopped, Suigetsu lowered the wall. He seemed completely fine.

"Not bad kid." he said "But you're Fire Style is weaker than my Water Style. Now it's my turn!"

Hisa expected him to do another Water Style. Instead, he ran out onto the centre of the lake. _What's he doing?_ she thought. Konahamaru started to look very worried.

Suigetsu smirked, before melting into the lake. Hisa rubbed her eyes to make sure she saw that properly. He just _melted _into the lake. Only his head, arms and the top of his torso were visible. The rest had simply turned into water.

Konahamaru's eyes widened.

"Get back! Run!" he yelled at the genin. They quickly scrambled away and hid behind trees. Hisa peeked out to watch the fight. She gasped.

Suigetsu and the lake had become one, and now the entire lake was rising. It was like a giant blob of water with a head in the middle. Suigetsu grinned down at Konahamaru. He looked like a shark about to eat his prey.

"Water Style: Demon Fish Wave Crash!"

The entire lake surged straight at Konahamaru. Hisa heard Oki scream. Konahamaru slammed his hands down on the ground.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"

Just as the water reached him, a wall of earth shot out of the ground and Konahamaru rose up to safety. Hisa breathed a sigh of relief as the water splashed past him harmlessly.

Suddenly, a figure appeared behind Konahamaru. Before Hisa could yell and warn him, the figure stuck out his hand. A sphere of water encased Konahamaru. Hisa recognised the jutsu. _A water prison jutsu._

Suigetsu grinned as he held the sphere.

"As they say in shogi, checkmate."

Hisa's heart was pounding. She had to rescue her sensei. It would be easy. She had the skills. She could do this.

So why wouldn't her legs move?

She tried to will her legs forward, but they wouldn't stop shaking. She was too scared. _You can do this._ she thought. _You have no choice, the others aren't strong enough. It's up to you._

She still didn't move.

Konahamaru was sitting calmly at the bottom of the sphere. Suigetsu frowned in confusion.

"Shouldn't you be drowning?"

Konahamaru shook his head.

"Nah. Us Leaf shinobi got sick of being caught in this jutsu so we invented a way to breathe while caught in it. I think the death rate has lessened a lot since then."

"Ah." Suigetsu said. "But you can't escape can you?"

Konahamaru shook his head.

"Not unless you remove your hand."

He said that last line loud enough for Hisa to overhear it. Now she knew the key. Suigetsu had somehow found time to grab his big sword and was holding it in his other hand. Now all she needed to do was come up with a plan. Unfortunately, her mind was blank.

Her head snapped around as she saw Nawaki rush from his hiding place. He took a deep breath while he was running.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

Hisa frowned. _That's strange, I didn't see him make hand seals._

To her surprise, a giant fireball shot out of his mouth and flew straight at Suigetsu.

Hisa felt a twinge of annoyance. _That idiot, that jutsu never hits anything. _She completely ignored the fact that she herself wasn't doing anything.

Sure enough, Suigetsu simply jumped and dodged the fireball. What neither of them was expecting was that the fireball disappeared in a puff and was replaced by Oki. She swung her sword and Suigetsu was forced to parry it with his broadsword.

Hisa was extremely surprised. _When did she learn how to transform into a fireball?_

They weren't finished yet. Now that both of Suigetsu's hands were occupied Nawaki jumped straight at him. Suigetsu tried to turn into water but he was using too much chakra already. He was forced to let go of the water prison to block Nawaki.

Once Konahamaru was free, Nawaki and Oki retreated. Konahamaru smiled at them.

"Well done you two." he looked around. "Where's Hisa?"

Hisa decided that she needed to do something of she wanted to have any pride at all remaining. She jumped out from behind the tree and ran straight at Suigetsu, acting like it had all been part of the plan.

Just as she reached Suigetsu, three senbon flew out of nowhere and lodged themselves in Suigetsu's vital points.

_Not more Déjà vu. _Oki groaned

A man stepped into view. He was middle aged, with brown hair and a brown beard. He looked unremarkable, apart from the giant sword he was holding. It was a giant axe and hammer linked together by a flat thin leather rope. He had his hands raised in a sign of peace.

"I apologize for the inconvenience." he said "You see, Suigetsu Hozuki deflected from the village a few months ago. I was sent to kill him. I'll take the body now."

Hisa remained stoical, but on the inside, she was relieved. She was glad she had avoided the fight. Oki also seemed relieved that it was over, and Konahamaru looked a bit puzzled. In the end, he seemed to accept the man's explanation.

Nawaki was a completely different story. He was trembling and his face was a mixture of grief and anger. Hisa didn't understand him at all. He had been completely calm when Suigetsu had tried to kill them, and now that Suigetsu was dead, he was upset.

"How could you?" he screamed at the Kiri shinobi. "How could you just kill him like that?"

Oki and Konahamaru both looked as confused as Hisa was.

"He was trying to kill us idiot."" she snapped "Why are you so upset?"

Nawaki turned to her, fury in his eyes.

"He-He was a person too! He had feelings, and a life, and that man just snuffed it out without hesitation!"

The man in question started to look very uncomfortable.

Hisa was unfazed by Nawaki's anger.

"Shinobi die. It's part of our job to kill. If you can't accept that then you're not meant to be a shinobi."

The anger went out of Nawaki's eyes and was replaced by emptiness. He turned away and began to walk without another word.

Konahamaru turned to the remaining members of his team.

"Well," he said brightly. "That was fun!"

Hinata burst into Naruto's office looking frantic. He immediately stopped eating ramen and ran over to her.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice a strangely calm tone.

"I can't find Hisa!" Hinata gasped "I've been looking for her all day!"

Naruto relaxed at this. "Oh, don't worry I just sent her on a C-Rank. She'll be back in a few days."

Hinata began to look a bit calmer. She also began to look a bit angrier.

"Is there any particular reason why you didn't tell me this YESTERDAY? I spent all of today searching the village!"

Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly.

"I forgot?"

Hinata sighed.

"Why did you send her on a C-Rank anyway? Shouldn't she still be doing D-Ranks?"

Naruto grinned.

"Actually, I came up with a great plan! Every time they complete ten D-Ranks I'll give them a C-Rank! Isn't it a great plan?"

"…"

"What's wrong? Don't you like my plan?"

"… I'm going to go and find Obito. I'll see you at dinner-time."

Naruto grinned and kissed his wife.

"Ok. See you then."

As she left the office he realised something.

"HEY! You never said that you liked the plan!"


	10. Chapter 10

After the events of yesterday, Hisa was extremely glad to reach the village that hired them. The rest of the journey had taken them a full night and day. They reached the village just as the sun went down.

Nawaki had been silent the whole way there. Oki had tried to make light conversation, but he had given her short, one-word answers. At first, Hisa had enjoyed the silence, but as the day wore on it began to unnerve her. Why was he so upset over the death of an enemy? His whole village had been killed. Surely he understood that death happened. Even though her father had managed to put a stop to a lot of the useless deaths between the villages, shinobi were still killed by rogue ninjas or by freak-accidents.

They reached the village and were escorted to a small house.

"You three stay here." Konahamaru ordered. "I'm going to get the whole story from the village leader."

"Can we go out to train?" Hisa asked. She thought she saw Nawaki roll his eyes but she ignored him.

Konahamaru sighed.

"Fine, you can train. But don't use too much chakra."

With that he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Why does he feel the need to do that?" Hisa grumbled.

She was about to leave for training when she saw Nawaki go upstairs, leaving Oki alone in the room. Hisa knew Oki, and she could tell that her friend was extremely worried about Nawaki's attitude.

"Do you want to come and train with me?" she asked.

Oki brightened up at once.

"Sure. I was planning to show you my new jutsu."

The two of them left the house and made their way into the forest.

"What's this village called anyways?" Oki asked.

Hisa shrugged. "I think it's called something like 'The Hidden Metal Village.'"

"That would make sense." Oki agreed. "Most of the houses here were made from metal, and the object we need to find is located in a mine."

They reached a small grove of trees and decided to use it as their training ground.

"I'll go first." Hisa said. "Father taught me how to summon toads, I only summoned one so far, so the one I summon now won't know me at all."

"Do it." Oki said, looking completely fascinated.

Hisa bit her thumb and slammed her hand down on the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

When the smoke cleared, she was faced with a small brown toad with dark brown spots.

"Thank Kami." Hisa sighed "A normal toad."

"What d'ya mean 'normal'? I'm a tracker toad!" the toad said in a squeaky voice.

Hisa sighed in frustration. Why couldn't she just summon a normal fire-breathing toad like her father?

"I've never heard of a tracker toad." she said suspiciously. "Are you _sure _you're not just messing with me?"

The toad snorted.

"Of course you haven't heard of me! There are only around eight tracker toads alive! It takes a very skilled shinobi to summon us. Which reminds me, who are you? Who summoned me?"

"I'm Hisa Uzumaki and I summoned you." she said.

The toad grinned.

"Oh! You're Naruto's brat! No wonder you were able to summon me!"

Hisa growled in annoyance. These toads were starting to get on her nerves. When would they realise that she summoned them because she was a talented shinobi, not because she was Naruto's daughter?

"So I'm guessing you can track stuff." she said, not really caring.

The toad grinned proudly.

"Yep! Give me a scent and I can track it down for you."

"Can't I just use dogs for that?"

The toad scowled.

"Sure you can- if the trail is still fresh. But if you need to track down someone who's long gone, Gamasaku's your toad!"

Hisa was fed up with the toad by this stage.

"That's great, but you can go now."

The toad nodded happily and left in a puff.

Hisa turned and looked at Oki.

"You're turn." she said.

Oki nodded.

"Your dad showed me this jutsu when I graduated." she said.

She made a hand seal.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Hisa was surrounded by at least ten Okis. She was impressed.

"Why did he show you this jutsu?" she asked.

"He knew that you and Nawaki could make a lot of clones already, so he showed me the forbidden scroll and I learnt how to modify it so that it wouldn't drain all my chakra."

"I'll admit it." Hisa said "I'm impressed. This'll be a lot more useful in a fight then my toads."

"True." Oki said "But thanks to the tracker toad it'll be a lot easier to find this gem."

Hisa's eyes widened. Why hadn't she thought of that? She'd tell Konahamaru tomorrow.

"Let's spar." she suggested. "Then we can practise tree walking."

Oki nodded and the two began to fight.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

The next morning, Team 7 set off for the mine. Hisa explained about the tracker toad, and summoned him to show the way. Konahamaru explained what he had learnt.

"Basically the fame of this gem has grown in recent years and the village want it to be safe in their possession before other villages get it. Apparently, they no longer trust the strength of the former village leader."

He noticed Nawaki was still silent so he rolled his eyes.

"Nawaki, Suigetsu's still alive. It was all a trick so that he could escape safely."

Hisa and Nawaki were shocked, but Oki seemed perfectly calm. She was muttering something about Déjà vu under her breath.

"How do you know?" Hisa asked at the exact same time that Nawaki said "Why didn't you tell me?"

Konahamaru rolled his eyes again.

"I know because I saw him turn to water just before the senbon hit. There were tiny little splashes wherever they hit, which tipped me off. I didn't say anything because it would have been too much hassle and I didn't want to kill him anyway. Lastly, I didn't tell you Nawaki because I appreciated the silence that came with your brooding. It was a pleasant break from your constant chatter. I'm telling you know because I need you to be thinking straight for this part of the mission."

"Sensei, that was mean." Oki said reproachfully.

Konahamaru shrugged.

"I never said I was nice. I manipulate people and I love reading smut. I have faults and I freely admit them."

Oki had no reply to this.

She started discussing plans with Hisa and trying to predict what kind of traps there would be. Nawaki still remained silent but he didn't look as angry or upset, more like he was just thinking hard.

It took them an hour to reach the mine. The entrance was dark, and Hisa couldn't see a thing that lay inside.

"I'll go in first and deactivate most of the traps." Konahamaru said. "Wait here for me until I come back."

He took off into the mine. The three genin surrounded the entrance to make sure that no one else would get in.

Konahamaru was back within five minutes.

"Something's wrong." he said. "Most of the traps were already deactivated. I've a feeling someone's been here already and wants us to get the gem."

"Is it the guy with the scary sword?" Oki asked.

Konahamaru nodded.

"That's most likely who it is. Be on your guard everyone."

The four of them set off into the mine. Each of them kept a tight grip on their kunai as they walked, eyes scanning for the slightest hint of danger.

As they walked deeper into the mines, it got colder and darker. Hisa could barely see the outline of Konahamaru in front of her.

Konahamaru came to a stop at a seemingly random point. Nawaki crashed into his back and almost fell over. Hisa smirked. Yet another thing that made her superior to Nawaki: she had better vision.

"This is as far as I went." Konahamaru whispered. "I've no idea what's beyond this point, but it's probably not good. So keep yourselves armed and ready."

They advanced deeper into the mines. For a few minutes nothing happened. Suddenly Hisa heard Nawaki scream and saw him falling. Konahamaru reached out and grabbed him stopping him from falling into a pit. They jumped over it and continued on their way.

Hisa could see why the villagers were in doubt. All of the traps were crude and simple. Not one used ninjutsu or genjutsu. Nawaki still managed to get caught in every one. _His eyesight's really terrible. _Hisa thought.

Finally, they reached a huge wall. It blocked the whole path, and there was no way past it. Konahamaru ran his hand along it.

"Ah." he said "Now I see why they deactivated the traps for us. This is a chakra absorbing gate. To get past it, you need to give it a large amount of chakra. I'm guessing that their plan was to wait until we unlocked the gate and got the gem. Then they would ambush us and take the gem."

"So what do we do?" Hisa asked.

Konahamaru thought about it.

"I'm the only one with a large enough amount of chakra to open the door. So once I do it you three will have to get the gem and guard it."

"Do you think we have a chance against them?" Oki asked.

"Not really, no." Konahamaru said casually. "But it's the only thing I can think of right now, so let's just go with it!"

He put his hands against the door. For a few seconds nothing happened, then his hands started to glow with blue chakra. Hisa used the light to look around. She was startled to see that the wall was also a reflective surface. She looked at her blue-black hair and her bright blue eyes. _I need a shower. _she thought.

Finally, Konahamaru's hands stopped glowing. He stepped away from the wall, swaying unsteadily. The doors rumbled open loudly. It sounded like the cave was about to collapse on top of them.

"Get the gem." he mumbled before sitting down on a rock. "I'll wait here."

The three of them raced ahead, keeping an eye out for anymore traps. Luckily, there were none. After a few minutes of running, they reached a small podium with a blue gem on it. It looked like an average crystal, a blue one except for the fact that it was glowing.

Oki quickly reached up and grabbed it, while the other two scanned the podium for traps. Finding none, the three of them made their way back to Konahamaru. He still looked very pale, although maybe that was just the gem's blue light. He seemed to have gotten a bit more energy back.

"Come on." he said, standing up. "Let's go up and get this ambush over with. Oki, you keep a tight grip on the gem. Nawaki and Hisa, you two guard her. I'll watch from a safe distance."

"That's very nice of you." Nawaki muttered.

"I know!" Konahamaru said cheerfuly.

They reached the entrance to the mine after half an hour of walking. Nawaki and Hisa went out first, kunai at the ready. Oki walked out behind them, clutching the gem tightly. Konahamaru strolled out last, hands in his pockets. He even had the nerve to whistle, which irritated Hisa immensely.

They didn't have to wait long before the ambush began. A fog seeped over the whole area, making it hard to see anything, even the people standing beside you. Konahamaru shook his head in disappointment.

"Kiri shinobi are so unoriginal." he sighed.

He hung back for a minute, letting the other's wander ahead. When they were a far enough distance away. He straightened and removed his hands from his pockets.

"You can come out now."

Suigetsu emerged from the mist, a smirk on his face.

"Relax kid, I'm not here to fight ya. I'm just making sure that you're not going to rush off and help you're genin."

Konahamaru shrugged.

"They can handle themselves. Who are they going to be fighting?"

Suigetsu grinned proudly.

"My son, that's who."

"Ah." Konahamaru said. "Well then, I don't suppose we could watch?"

Suigetsu shook his head.

"'Fraid not. I tried telling Haru that the mist was unoriginal but he wouldn't listen. Kids these days, ya know?"

Konahamaru sighed.

"Oh well."

A few minutes passed.

"So… have you read the new Icha Icha series."

"You mean the Hatake version?"

"Yep."

"Yeah, I've read it. I gotta say, the character Yuri really grew on me…"

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Meanwhile, Hisa and the rest of her team weren't having such a good time. A strange boy had appeared out of the mist, and was standing in front of them. Nawaki looked as scared as Hisa felt, while Oki was a lot calmer. She seemed to be muttering something about Déjà vu again.

"Who are you?" Hisa asked, trying to ignore how her hand was trembling.

The man came closer and hisa got a good look at him. He had the same amethyst eyes as Suigetsu, but his hair was red, not white and his face was thinner.

"I am Haru, a shinobi of Kirigakure. I afraid I must kill you now. I apologize."

Oki frowned.

"Why does that name seem oddly familiar?"

Deciding that her friend wasn't quite focused, Hisa turned to Nawaki.

"We'll attack together on three." she said

Nawaki nodded. He gripped his kunai firmly in his hand. Hisa was glad to see that he had gotten over his earlier hatred of trying to kill other shinobi. He seemed to understand now that shinobi had no choice but to fight each other.

The two of them rushed at Haru, but he simply vanished into the mist. They came to a stop and looked around.

"Where did he go?" Hisa whispered.

Suddenly, a rain of kunai lashed down on them, scratching them and cutting them. When the rain stopped, Hisa looked around, but there was still no sign of Haru.

"How can he see us but we can't see him?" Hisa asked in frustration.

A low chuckle echoed around them, and Haru's voice began to talk.

"I can't see you-but I _can_ see you're chakra. I have the gift of being a sensor. I'm afraid you two don't stand a chance against me."

Hisa tried to think of a strategy, but her mind was blank. Terror seized her. She really didn't have a chance against Haru. Her legs were trembling too hard to support her and she sank to the ground. She heard Haru's triumphant laugh and Nawaki's desperate cry as a kunai rushed straight at her forehead. For a second she regretted wearing her Leaf headband around her neck. _Maybe it's better if I die here. I have been pretty useless on this mission._

She closed her eyes and waited to die. She heard the sound of kunai hitting flesh and she felt blood splatter onto her face. To her surprise, she felt no pain. _Maybe my brain is shutting down._ After a few seconds she opened her eyes. Why was she still alive? She let out a cry as she took in the sight in front of her.

Nawaki lay in front of her, three kunai embedded in his stomach. She was relieved to see that he was still breathing, but he could barely move or talk.

"Nawaki!" she screamed.

He took another breath, wincing at the pain that was coursing through his body.

"It's up to you now." he whispered. "This time… don't screw up."

With that, he closed his eyes.

Hisa wasn't sure what set her off. Maybe it was the tears she saw forming in Nawaki's eyes, maybe it was Oki's constant mumbling about Déjà vu or maybe it was Haru's laugh. All she knew was that she lost it.

She screamed as loudly as she possibly could. All her anger at everything, Nawaki, Haru, her own uselessness and being the Hokage's daughter, it all came out.

Then she felt something strange, her eyes started to burn. They burned like they were on fire, but it only added to her rage. She felt her anger bubble up inside her. It mixed into her chakra and it made her chakra expand. She felt like she couldn't hold it in her body anymore.

So she extended her arms and let it out. It was like a telekinetic wave. It pulsed out in a circle around her, scattering the mist and hitting an unsuspecting Haru straight in his stomach. The wave was so strong it made him fly backwards.

Then, as suddenly as it had come, the pain in her eyes stopped. She blinked a few times and looked around. Everything except Nawaki and the ground itself had been pushed away. Her eyesight felt better too, she could see everything more clearly. As she felt the scroll-toad in her stomach begin to crawl up her throat, she realised what had happened.

She had developed the Rinnegan.

Haru didn't stand a chance.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

That night, Naruto and Hinata lay in bed together. Hinata had her arms wrapped around him, and she kissed him every few minutes.

"So, anything major happen today?" she asked.

He shook his head.

"Nothing much, but I did discover something interesting."

She twisted around until she could see his face.

"Oh?"

He grinned sheepishly, and she suddenly knew that she wouldn't like what he was about to say.

"Do you remember that C-Rank I gave Hisa?"

She nodded.

"Turns out it was actually an A-Rank."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N Since last chapter was the end of the first arc, I've decided to explain a few things now. I'm not very good at A/Ns which is why I don't do them much. But there are a few things I need to make clear so I decided to do this now.**

**The first arc was basically introducing Nawaki and Team 7. This arc will be the Chunnin Exam arc but after this arc, the story won't copy the Naruto one. However, certain things in the story will mirror Naruto, as history repeating itself is a big theme in this story. I actually do have a plot for this story, it won't just be 'the next generation have a bunch of adventures but it all works out in the end.' After this arc, the story will get more complicated. **

**Secondly, this will probably turn into an AU seeing as I don't know how Naruto will end. The story is cannon up to around 618, but I already have the plot planned out so if the manga changes from my headcannon, the story won't.**

**Thirdly, to everyone who read/reviewed the story. THANK YOU SO MUCH! And thank you to anyone who will review this in the future.( I won't name anyone in case it breaks some FanFiction rule. I'm new to the site) Your reviews actually encourage me to write faster. I was like "Oh my god someone actually read this and ****_likes_**** it!"**

**I try my best with the Japanese names, but my computer won't let me add in the dots on the vowels. For example, I know now that most people say Hyuuga, but I started this story with 'Hyuga' so I'll continue it like this.**

**The story is based around Nawaki, but I'll try to add in as much of the real Naruto characters as I can. This arc explores more about the children of the other characters, like Neji and Tenten or Shikamaru and Temari. It'll also explore a bit more of Team 7's history.**

**There will be times when I won't update for a few days, but that doesn't mean I've abandoned this story. If I do abandon it(Which I don't see happening) I'll say it.**

**On a completely random and unrelated point, I think I hate the number 614 now. Neji L**

**Alright, this is the end of the A/N. This chapter will start with a timeskip of a few months, but I'll try to explain how the Suigetsu arc ended. I didn't actually finish it because it wasn't relative to the plot and it would have basically been a filler.**

**So, on with the story!**

** !**

Three months had passed since the incident at the mine, and Nawaki had managed to make a full recovery. After seeing the Rinnegan, Suigetsu and Haru had retreated, and Nawaki was able to get medical attention. His wounds had healed, but he had a small scar on his stomach. He and Hisa had gone back to their rivalry as if nothing had happened.

He had also gotten used to his life in Konoha. He would train with his team and do a mixture of D-Ranks and C-Ranks. Whenever he got a C-Rank, his mother would visit him. He had gotten used to balancing his real identity with his Konoha one.

The mission hadn't affected Oki that much. The only thing that changed was that she stopped muttering about Déjà vu.

Hisa however, was a different story. Naruto had explained the whole Rinnegan situation to the rest of Team 7. In the end, Hisa decided to seal all of the paths except for the Deva Path. Nawaki found her even more unbearable now. Not only was she incredibly cocky, she also became a lot more broody and serious. Nawaki understood that there was a lot of pressure on her now. He could see that by the way the villagers whispered every time she walked past, but she wasn't the only one who was going through a hard time. Nawaki had had a very tough life as a child, only in recent years had it gotten better. He didn't spend all day brooding over it though.

He hadn't always lived on Crescent Moon Island. In fact, he only came to the island when he was six. After his mother fled Konoha, she moved around from village to village. When Nawaki was born she continued to do this.

Sakura had always loved Nawaki, and had always spent time with him and cared for him. But that didn't stop her going out every night drinking and gambling, and coming back with a random man. As a result, Nawaki lost a lot of his childhood innocence at an early age. He was four years old when he realised what the grunts coming from his mother's bedroom meant. Nawaki had hated seeing his mother so broken, but she had been this way since before he was born, so he hadn't known what to do.

Then, when Nawaki was almost six, everything changed. His mother had come home with another man, but this one had been very, very drunk. The man had lost his temper and lashed out at Sakura, before turning to Nawaki. Seeing this man hurt his mother so carelessly made something snap within Nawaki. His sharingan had activated and he had been able to throw the man out of their apartment.

After that incident, his mother had come to her senses. She stopped drinking, gambling and seeing anyone. She and Nawaki had moved to live on Crescent Moon Island, as his mother had friends there.

Nawaki had forgiven his mother and left the past behind him. It had taken Sakura a while to do the same, and sometimes Nawaki still saw self-loathing in her eyes. But they had grown a lot closer over the years, and now she was the person he loved most in the world.

Some nights, Nawaki still had bad dreams about bars and strange men attacking his mother. But he had learnt to live with them, and not to let them take over his life. He wished Hisa could learn to do the same with her problems.

Nawaki and his team were currently sparring in training ground three. Konahamaru was 'supervising' them and Nawaki and Oki were trying to avoid Hisa's Universal Pull technique. Since getting the Rinnegan, neither of them had managed to get close to beating Hisa.

The match came to an end when Hisa managed to grab Nawaki's neck and slam him on the ground. She smirked down at him, before releasing him and letting him climb to his feet. Oki and Konahamaru walked over to them from the sidelines.

"Well done Nawaki!" Konahamaru said cheerfully. "It took you a full three minutes to lose to Hisa. I think that's a new record!"

Nawaki scowled while Hisa smirked triumphantly,

"Have we got any missions?" Oki asked curiously.

Konahamaru grinned sheepishly.

"Actually, there was something I should have told you last week. I entered the three of you into the Chunnin Exams."

Nawaki grinned. He had been waiting for a chance to take these exams.

"When are they on?" Hisa asked, looking completely uninterested as usual.

"Well… actually… they're on tomorrow. Bye!"

With that Konahamaru disappeared in a puff of smoke.

There was a stunned silence for a minute. It was broken when Hisa stamped her foot angrily on the ground.

"I'm going to kill him." she muttered.

She looked at her team.

"Come on. Let's go to Ichiraku's. We can share what we know there."

Ten minutes later, the three genin were chowing down on Miso ramen. Nawaki could see why Naruto loved it so much. Ramen was _delicious._

Once they had taken a few bites, Hisa began to talk.

"My brother Obito and his team will be taking the exam this year." she said. "I can probably beat all three one-on-one, but you two could have some difficulty with Obito and Toruko Aburame."

"What about the third teammate?" Nawaki asked, slightly annoyed that she had, once again, stated she was better than them.

Hisa shook her head.

"Neither of you should have problems with Kawa Inuzuka. He may be the next head of the Inuzuka Clan, but his skills are pathetic. He can never get in sync with Kiiromaru. Plus, he's an idiot."

Hisa was starting to irritate Nawaki. The way she just dismissed people like they were useless made his blood boil. But he kept his temper in check.

"I'm guessing we should watch out for the Ino-Shika-Cho trio?" Nawaki asked.

Hisa shrugged.

"Oki's sister is on that team and she got the highest scores in the Academy Exam. But they'll only know the minor clan techniques so I don't think they'll cause us too much trouble."

"What about the other team that graduated with us?" Oki asked.

Hisa's face became worried.

"You two shouldn't have much trouble with them. Lu is awful at ninjutsu and genjutsu, and Ning is just an average kunoichi. She's good with weapons though."

She fell silent after that. She still looked slightly worried, which prompted Nawaki into asking another question.

"What about their teammate? Hizashi Hyuga?"

He could see that he hit the mark when Hisa's frown deepened.

"He may be a Hyuga, but he's not very good. You two should be able to beat him easily."

"What about you?" Nawaki asked.

"It's… a complicated situation. I can't quite explain it to you now."

Nawaki was extremely curious now. But Oki shook her head in warning so he decided not to push it.

"So first there's the written exam, then the survival part. Finally, there's the one-on-one matches right?"

Hisa nodded.

"I'm going to train." she said, standing up and beginning to walk away. "Just remember, stay away from the Kazekage's children."

Nawaki frowned, puzzled by her remark.

"What does she mean?" he asked Oki

She shrugged.

"I think she met them a few times when the Kazekage came to visit. We'll find out what she means soon enough."

Oki jumped off her stool, gave Nawaki a hug, and left.

Nawaki sat there for a minute, finishing his ramen. He was both nervous and excited for the test tomorrow. He was sure he'd do fine in the survival and the matches. It was the written test that worried him. He had no idea what to expect.

He noticed that the sky was getting darker. He paid Ayame for the ramen, and set off for his apartment. He wanted to get a good night's sleep for the exam. He _would _become a chunnin. He refused to accept any other option.


	12. Chapter 12

Hisa woke up at the crack of dawn. She had set three alarm clocks, just to make sure. As she crept out of her house, she could hear her older brother snoring.

_Idiot. _she thought _He'll never be ready for the exams._

She made her way down to the training ground. The birds were chirping in the trees, and the sounds of the village waking up were heard even from the silent training ground. Shops began to open and she could hear the early-morning workers chatting to each other as she walked by.

None of this interested Hisa in the slightest. The only thing she wanted to do was practise using her Rinnegan. She had learnt how to push and pull things, but she could only push small things like kunai. Her pull was slightly better, she was able to pull heavier things like people towards her.

Hisa hated having the Rinnegan, but she knew there was no use complaining about it. She decided to learn how to master it anyway, as it would be very useful in battle. The power that came with the Rinnegan both delighted her and terrified her. It was extremely useful, but it was too much for her to handle. That was why she had locked most of it away.

It wasn't that she hated the Rinnegan itself; she just hated the pressure that was now on her. It was even bigger than before, and she had no way to hide her identity, seeing as her eyes were now purple. She had screamed the first time she saw her eyes in the mirror, and although she would never admit this to anyone, she had cried that night. She wanted her normal blue eyes back.

She shoved those thoughts out of her head as she reached the training ground. The Chunin Exams started today. There was no time to wallow in self-pity. For the next hour, she attempted to push and pull the trees. By the end of the hour, all she had managed to do was rip a few branches and a lot of leaves. She was annoyed at her lack of progress, but she couldn't do anything about it.

She made her way back into the town to find her teammates. They had promised to meet up at the market district crossroads. Unfortunately for Hisa, they hadn't agreed on a specific time. She climbed into a tree and kept watch.

She was tired from her morning training, and she dozed off for a bit. The sound of slightly familiar voices woke her up. She looked down and froze. This was not good.

Standing in front of her were two of the Kazekage's children. She vaguely remembered that the girl was called Karura, and that she was the middle child. She studied Karura closer. She had medium length brown hair and dark eyes. She wore a light black shirt and a matching black skirt, with a black headband around her neck. She was wearing black gloves and black boots. Hisa remembered meeting her two years ago. She looked around ten years old. Hisa couldn't remember anything about what specialities she had. All her attention had been focused on the youngest child.

Hisa turned and looked at the boy standing beside her. She couldn't remember his name, but she knew that he was the oldest. She he looked around twelve years old. He had the same auburn hair as his father, but the same dark eyes as his sister. He had several scrolls strapped to his back. He wore a simple black jacket and pants, with mesh armour underneath. Hisa had never understood why Suna shinobi wore so much black, especially since they lived in an extremely hot climate.

She looked around for the third child, but couldn't see her anywhere. She started to panic a bit. Her experience with the Kazekage's youngest child had not been pleasant. She had hoped she would be able to avoid all three of them. Apparently, fate really disliked her.

The two on the ground started talking, and Hisa strained to hear them.

"Yashamaru, have you seen Naruko?"

Now Hisa remembered the auburn haired boy's name. Yashamaru.

The boy in question shook his head.

"No, I haven't seen the brat all morning. Frankly, it's a relief to get away from her."

"Shut up." his sister warned. "If she hears you, she'll kill you."

The boy laughed.

"Dad would never let her kill me."

"Dad's losing control of her and you know it."

Hisa remembered her encounter with Naruko. Even as a four year old, that child had scared her. She was ironically named after Hisa's father, yet she was extremely different in personality. In fact, she and her brother were downright unpleasant.

Hisa focused once again on the ground as she heard footsteps running towards them. She saw Nawaki and Oki come into sight. Nawaki wasn't watching where he was going and to Hisa's horror, he crashed straight into Karura. They both tumbled to the ground.

"Sorry." Nawaki stammered as he helped her to her feet.

Karura smiled at him.

"It's ok!" she said. "It was an accident."

Nawaki smiled in relief, but the smile disappeared as Yashamaru stepped forward.

"It's not ok Karura." he growled. "This brat knocked you over."

Nawaki took a step back. There was an unpleasant and dangerous aura surrounding Yashamaru. It reminded Hisa of a weak amount of Killing Intent.

"Yashamaru, it was an accident, let it go." Karura said.

Yashamaru ignored her. He glared at Nawaki and Oki.

"You two kids get out of my sight before I mess up your faces." he growled

"Let's go Nawaki." Oki muttered.

Nawaki shook his head. He glared angrily at Yashamaru.

"Sorry, but we have to meet a teammate here. We're not leaving." he said coldy, looking Yashamaru straight in the eye.

Yashamaru grinned.

"Well aren't you a brave one? You won't be after I've finished with you."

"Yashamaru stop!" Karura yelled. But it was too late.

Yashamaru grabbed the front of Nawaki's shirt and pulled him up until his feet were dangling off the ground. Hisa looked at Oki but she was mumbling about Déjà vu again. Hisa was getting seriously worried about her friend.

Hisa realised that it was up to her to rescue Nawaki. She stood up silently, not even rustling the leaves then she jumped down until she was behind Yashamaru. She put a kunai to his throat.

"I'd put him down if I were you." she said.

She wasn't worried. She knew that she could take him in a fight, and it didn't seem like Karura would rush to her brother's defence. She was glaring at him with annoyance. Yes she would be fine as long as Naruko didn't…

"Yashamaru, put him down and you, girl, put your kunai away."

Hisa gritted her teeth. Fate _really_ hated her today. She thought about that sentence. Dear Kami she was turning into a full-blown Hyuga.

Yashamaru dropped Nawaki like he had been stung, and Hisa put her kunai away. Nawaki scrambled away until he was beside Oki. They looked up to see who had interfered, although Hisa was sure she recognized that voice.

A young girl of around six walked towards them. She had the same hair as Karura, but her eyes were indigo coloured. Although Hisa knew she was six, she could pass for a four year old. Most people would think she looked adorable and innocent. But if they looked closer, they would have seen the coldness in her eyes. She wore a black full bodysuit, with t-shirt like sleeves and ¾ length legs. Her headband was tied around her waist.

"Naruko." Yashamaru said uneasily. "This punk knocked Karura over. I was only defending her!"

"She can defend herself." Naruko said coldy. "We're leaving now."

She turned to look at Hisa.

"You there, with the purple ringed eyes. What's your name?"

Hisa didn't know if it was the purple eyes comment, or Naruko's 'better then you' attitude, but she felt angry.

"We've met before." she told Naruko coldly. "I remember your name. You should have remembered mine."

Naruko's eyes flashed.

"If you don't tell me your name, you'll end up in the hospital."

Hisa laughed.

"I don't care if you're the Kazekage's daughter, I won't be beaten by a midget."

Yashamaru winced and Karura looked terrified. She reached forward and put her hand on Naruko's shoulder.

"Let's go." she said

Naruko shook her hand off. She gave Hisa one last glare before turning and walking away.

Hisa breathed a sigh of relief. She was aware that she had just made an enemy out of the most dangerous genin in the exam. This was not good.

"Let's go and register." she said.

As they walked, Nawaki began asking questions.

"Who were they?" he asked.

"The Sand Siblings version 2" Hisa said.

Nawaki frowned, confused.

"They're the Kazekage's kids." Oki explained.

"Ah. That explains it." Nawaki said. "I was wondering why the small one reminded me so much of Hisa."

Hisa glared at him.

"I am nothing like Naruko. She is arrogant, slighty cruel, far too overpowered for her age and mean."

"Yes Hisa, that doesn't sound like you at all." Nawaki said sarcastically

Hisa was about to snap at him but Oki interrupted.

"She really isn't like Hisa."

Hisa felt grateful to her friend for defending her, until Oki kept talking.

"If Naruko says she'll put you in the hospital, she will. With Hisa, it's mostly talk."

Hisa glared at Oki while Nawaki laughed.

!

They reached the building where the Chunin Exams were on. They managed to register without any trouble, and made their way to the written exam room. Hisa kept an eye out, but they didn't bump into anyone they knew.

They found some seats and sat down.

"So this'll be the written part right?" Nawaki asked.

Hisa nodded.

"I wonder who'll be proctoring this year. I heard that Ibiki was too busy."

"It'll probably be someone from the Torture and Interrigation department." Nawaki said.

Oki suddenly turned pale.

"Oh Kami, please don't let it be…"

The door flew open and Ino Yamanaka stormed into the room, followed by a reluctant looking Shikamaru.

"Alright everyone, take your seats! The Chunin Exams are about to begin!"

She saw Oki trying to hide underneath the table and waved.

"Hey Oki! Are you ready to beat all these losers? See that girl? She's my daughter, and she's going to beat all of you!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes as Oki began banging her head off the table.

"Ino, you're not allowed to pick favourites. Let's just get on with this troublesome thing."

Ino pouted.

"Fine, fine. Alright then, here are the rules! You'll each be given a test with twenty questions on them. You have exactly two hours to answer them all! Your time starts… now!"

Hisa looked at the sheet placed in front of her. These tests were usually based on teamwork, which wasn't Hisa's strong point.

_Question One: You're team is on a mission when one of your teammates gets captured. What would you do?_

Hisa sighed. These were the sort of questions that Nawaki and Oki would answer easily. But she knew that whatever answer she came up with would be wrong.

_Alright, imagine you're a simple minded genin who thinks teamwork is everything. How would you answer this?_

She thought for a minute before scribbling down an answer.

_I would listen and obey the mission leader unless their idea is beyond stupid._

That seemed good enough. But she knew she couldn't answer all of them. What could she do?

_Of course, _she thought _I could cheat!_

She quickly bit her thumb and whispered "Summoning Jutsu." The tracker toad she had summoned before appeared. She had forgotten his name but she didn't care.

"Find Nawaki or Oki and copy their answers." she whispered.

The frog took off and Hisa relaxed. This test would be easy.

!

When the three hours were up, Ino collected the tests. There were a bunch of Chunin situated around the room who corrected them.

"Alright, here are the results!" Ino announced. "You all fail! Your answers were terrible!"


	13. Chapter 13

Nawaki was extremely confused. Why had he failed? All around him, genin were getting up and leaving, but he remained rooted to his chair. What did he do wrong?

He was sure that he had done fine in the test. Most of the answers he gave were good ones, and he was sure that he could use them if the situations given were real. But maybe they hadn't been the answers the proctors were looking for. It still didn't make sense why everyone had failed! Surely at least one person would have the right answers?

He was angry now. What right did Ino or Shikamaru have to say that his answers were terrible? He knew his answers had been perfectly fine.

He stood up and slammed his hand on the desk, gaining the proctors attention.

"I'm not leaving this room until you pass me!" he yelled "My answers were good. I don't care what you think!"

Ino grinned menacingly at him.

"Do you really want to challenge me and Shikamaru? He's the smartest person in Konoha."

Nawaki hesitated, until he saw someone else stand up. He recognized the boy as Hisa's brother, Obito.

"If he won't challenge you then I will." Obito said "My answers were good as well."

Nawaki looked around the room. Some people were still leaving, but others were standing up and nodding. Nawaki was relieved to see that Hisa and Oki were standing.

Ino shrugged.

"It's you're decision. I'll give you three minutes to leave. If you don't, we'll challenge you and if you lose, you'll remain a genin forever."

This statement made at least half the remaining genin leave, but Team 7 stayed, along with Obito's team. Nawaki also noticed that the Ino-Shika-Cho team stayed, as well as the team with Hizashi Hyuga on it.

"Time's up." Ino announced "Shikamaru, tell them what's going to happen next."

She noticed that Shikamaru had fallen asleep so she whacked him over the head.

"Hm…" he looked around the room. "Can I leave yet?"

"Tell them what's going to happen to them!" Ino yelled.

"…Oh right, you pass. G'night."

With that, he fell back asleep.

Ino sighed.

"Well that was anticlimactic. I suppose I should tell you the reason that you passed since Shikamaru obviously won't. You all believed in your own ideas. While it's important for a shinobi to listen to each other, it's also important to believe in yourselves."

The genin began to mutter amongst themselves. Nawaki made his way over to Hisa and Oki.

"The survival test is next, right?" he asked. "I wonder who'll be proctoring it."

This time, Hisa was the one who turned pale.

"I really hope I'm wrong about this…"

The door slammed open and a young woman stormed into the room. She had long black hair that went down to her waist and a fringe that covered her forehead. Her pale, pupil less eyes marked her as a member of the Hyuga clan.

Hisa groaned.

"It's Auntie Hanabi. We're doomed."

Nawaki once again wondered how much aunties and uncles Hisa had.

The woman ran up to the front of the room.

"Sorry I'm late!" she gasped. "That bastard Konahamaru wouldn't stop bugging me. He kept trying to show me his new pervy ninjutsu. Why the hell did he think I'd want to see that? Is there something on my face that says 'come and do perverse ninjustsu techniques in front of me'?"

Ino smiled camly.

"Relax Hanabi, you're not late. In fact, you're right on time."

Hanabi seemed to notice that the genin were staring at her.

"What're you brats looking at?" she snapped.

They all quickly looked away. She grinned at that.

"Alright you bunch of squeaky-voiced, spot covered worms! Time to go to the Minefield! I want to watch and laugh as you explode into pieces!"

Nawaki gulped.

"She's not exactly the… friendliest person is she?" he whispered to Hisa.

"She's nice once you get to know her." Hisa whispered back.

Nawaki wasn't sure he wanted to get to know her. The gleam in her eye when she'd talked about them dying scared him.

"I'll see you all there! If you're late, well… you'll find out."

With that, she jumped out the fourth floor window, smashing the glass in the process.

Ino sighed.

"Why do the survival proctors always feel the need to smash windows?"

!

They made their way to the minefield training ground as fast as they could. Hanabi was waiting for them when they arrived, idly tossing a kunai from hand to hand. Once everyone had gathered, she began to talk.

"Alright, here are the rules. You have three days and three nights to make your way across the minefield. Your entire team must be alive. Otherwise, you won't be allowed leave. Those are basically the only two rules. Everything is allowed. So you can push your opponents into a minefield if you want. In fact, I'll give you a lollipop if you do. Any questions?"

One chubby boy nervously put up his hand.

"What happens if we don't make it to the other side in time?"

Hanabi grinned maniacally.

"If that happens, fatso, then I get the pleasure of pushing this button here." she whipped out a small remote. "This button will make the entire minefield go boom! Hopefully with you still in it."

She laughed. "Let's hope I don't accidently sit on it. That would be too funny."

"Hisa, you're aunt's a psycho." Nawaki whispered.

Hisa shook her head.

"She's just a bit… eccentric." she argued.

"Is everyone ready?" Hanabi yelled.

A few people yelled "No!"

"Too bad! I'm opening the gate."

"Wait, we need to get our plan ready." Nawaki yelled desperately.

Hanabi looked at him like she was contemplating murder.

"Do I look like I care about your plan? Get going!"

Nawaki bolted straight at the gate, Hisa and Oki running to catch up with him.

"Hisa!" Hanabi yelled. "Hinata wanted me to tell you to take care of your brother. Personally, I would prefer if you pushed him onto a mine, but that's just my opinion."

"Okay Auntie!" Hisa yelled back. "I'll try my best!"

Nawaki finally understood where Hisa got some of her attitude from. He vowed to stay as far away from Hanabi as he could. He also decided to warn Obito that his sister was trying to murder him.

Once the three of them were inside the minefield, they paused to regroup.

"What should we do?" Oki asked.

"We could stick to the fence." Nawaki suggested

Hisa shook her head.

"It would take too long. We'd never make it out in three days. "

"We wouldn't make it out, but when she blows the place up, we'd still live."

Hisa looked at him arrogantly.

"I don't' know about you but _I _came here to become a chunin. If I valued living more I would stay a genin. Don't tell me your scared?"

Nawaki glared at her.

"I'm not scared at all! I just want to become a chunin before I die!"

Hisa sighed.

"We won't die. I'll use my Rinnegan to pull all the mines up, then I'll send them shooting away from us. We'll be perfectly fine."

Oki looked at her in concern.

"Are you sure you're strong enough to do that?"

Hisa bristled.

"Of course I am! Come on, let's go before we waste more time."

She stood up and stretched out her hands. She seemed to focus on the ground in front of her.

"Universal Pull!

Nawaki expected that a few of the nearest mines would start rushing towards her. What he didn't expect was for the entire ground in front of Hisa to crumble and start floating towards her. Around three meters of land hovered in the air. Hisa's face was white and Nawaki knew she wouldn't be able to hold it for long, but he didn't know if she had enough strength to push it all away. He knew she was too stubborn to back out, and sure enough, he heard her yell.

"Almighty Push!"

It was like watching an action movie in slow motion. Nawaki had seen many a movie with his mother, and action movies were his favourite. This was like he was watching one on a movie screen, not actually experiencing it.

He watched as the mixture of earth and mines shot away from them. It all flew away, scattering pieces of earth every few seconds. Finally, it landed at least twenty metres away. Any further and Nawaki would have lost sight of it. For a few seconds, nothing happened.

Then the entire ground exploded.

The heat of it seared Nawaki's face, his hair was blown backwards with the shockwave. All he could hear was the sound of mines exploding, and all he could see was explosions. Then, he began to see a little clearer. He saw Oki sitting next to him, just as stunned as he was. He saw Hisa wobble for a minute, before crashing to the ground. He was worried about her, but all of it disappeared from his mind when his hearing came back.

All around him, people were screaming. He heard a few names being called, a few people were sobbing and others were yelling, clearly in pain. It took him a minute to realise that genin like them had been caught up in the explosion.

The explosion that Hisa had caused.

It sickened him. He felt like throwing up there and then. He had accepted that sometimes, people died on missions, and that some enemies wouldn't hesitate to kill you unless you killed them first. But this was different. The people Hisa had killed had just been innocent children. Most of them had been twelve years old. He was disgusted that anyone would let children die like this, especially children from their own village. Was this what being a shinobi was about?

He couldn't think any deeper than that. All his thoughts were focused on the screams. One question kept circling round his head. _How many families will have lost a child by tonight? _By the sound of the screams, he'd say at least ten.

He wondered how Hisa felt about killing all those people. She had been ready to kill enemies on their missions, but how did she feel now? These people were not enemies. He looked over to where Hisa had fallen and realised that she was unconscious. She had used up all of her chakra. Nawaki envied her for a moment. She didn't have to see the result of what she had done.

He realised that someone was poking him. He turned and looked at Oki. She had obviously heard the screams, as she had tears running down her face, but she seemed to be alright.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

He wasn't sure he had it in him to open his mouth. So he just nodded. She seemed to understand and gently took his hand in hers.

"Let's go get Hisa." she said. "It's best if we keep moving and try not to think about it. Once this is over, we can think more clearly about everything. But for now, our main priority is to survive.

Nawaki heard what she said, but his mind wasn't following. The screams had subsided now, but he could still hear them echoing in his head. He let her lead him over to Hisa. A trickle of blood ran down the side of Hisa's mouth, but Nawaki couldn't find it in him to care. He couldn't care about her until he fully wrapped his head around what she had done.

The smoke from the explosions had cleared by now and Nawaki was able to see the field clearly. There was barely anything left. The entire area that they were standing in was just hardened earth. Not a single sound of life could be seen.

"I think she got rid of them all." Oki said. Nawaki wondered if she meant the mines of the competition.

Oki reached down and picked up Hisa, throwing Hisa across her back.

"We'll take turns carrying her," she said.

Nawaki still couldn't speak. But if he could speak he would have said that he wasn't going to carry Hisa anywhere until she woke up. He would judge her when he saw what reaction she had to causing all those deaths.

The three of them set off across the barren field.

As they walked, Nawaki heard moans coming from either side of him. He went to find out where the noise was coming from, but Oki grabbed his hand.

"You don't want to see that." she said firmly. "You're shaken up badly as it is."

For a minute he wondered why she was so calm, but then he realised it was her way of coping.

"Your sister is doing the exam isn't she?" he realised. It was the first thing he had said in ten minutes.

"I'm trying not to think about it right now." Oki said quietly.

They continued to walk in silence. Nawaki couldn't help but notice how far Hisa had pushed the mines. They had been walking for at least half an hour, and there was still no living thing in sight apart from his team. This made him realise that a lot more than ten people had gotten killed.

He tried not to think much after that.

!

Naruto was once again in his office when Hinata burst in.

"I heard screams coming from the minefield. Should we check it out?"

"Hm?" Naruto said, focused on his work (for once) "Oh, don't worry about the minefield. The chunin exams are happening there.

Hinata relaxed, glad that no wandering civilian was dying, then she realised something.

"Is that the exam that Hisa and Obito are doing?"

"Yes dear."

"So it's possible that they were the ones screaming?"

"Yes dear."

"…"

For the first time in five years, Hinata fainted.

"…"

"… Hinata?"


	14. Chapter 14

Kawa Inuzuka had been having a relatively easy time in the Chunin Exams. The minefield wasn't a problem, seeing as they had a Byakugan and a trained ninja dog. They had been making good progress through the minefield when Obito had suddenly stiffened.

"What's wrong?" Toruko had asked quietly.

Kawa had known instantly that something was wrong. Obito was the cheerful joker of the team, so when he got serious, something bad was about to happen.

"Run." Obito said

That was all they needed to hear. They took off, following Obito. Kawa accidently stepped on a small mine and almost got blasted. Kiiromaru barked angrily.

"Sorry boy." Kawa muttered sheepishly. He still hadn't learnt how to translate all of Kiiromaru's barks.

They ran for a minute or two. By this time, Kawa was dying to know what had scared Obito this much. Nothing seemed to be happening, so why were they running?

Obito came to a stop and held out his hand.

"We should be safe here." he panted.

"Safe from what?" Kawa asked.

The entire minefield behind them exploded.

"Oh," said Kawa. "Safe from that."

"What caused it?" Toruko asked.

Obito grimanced.

"Hisa. Mom's going to _kill_ her."

"Wait, _Hisa _did all this?" Kawa said incredulously. "She's that powerful?"

Obito nodded.

"I don't think she even knew she was going to cause this much damage. I'd say she's killed around a tenth of our competition."

"Is she ok?" Kawa asked, worried for the girl's health. Using this much chakra would cause a big strain on your chakra points. For a second, he felt admiration for the girl. She was one hell of a shinobi.

"Apart from being an idiot?" Obito grinned. "She's fainted, but she's alive. I'm more worried about how she'll react when she finds out what she did. I wonder how her team's coping?"

"What're you talking about?" Kawa asked.

Obito's face went slightly pale. A haunted look flashed across his face for a second.

"I got us out of hearing range, but I'm sure Kiiromaru knows what I'm talking about." he took in his teammates confused expression and explained.

"I could hear them, the screams. Kids our age have just been massacered, and Hisa's team had to experience the whole thing. Unlike us, there only seven years old, I doubt they'll love what she did."

"I don't like it either." Toruko admitted.

Obito nodded in agreement.

"The only reason I don't hate her now is because I know it was an accident. She may be an idiot with a superiority complex but she's still my sister."

"You're sister that almost killed you just now." Toruko added.

Obito chuckled.

"Like I said, Mom's going to _murder _her. Aunt Hanabi is probably laughing right now though. I think this will be her favourite Chunin Exams so far."

Kawa shuddered as he remembered meeting Obito's crazy aunt.

"Shall we get going?" he asked.

The other two nodded and they began to navigate the minefield again.

!

Inori Yamanaka was not pleased. Not at all. That lazy idiot Shikai had decided to take the most dangerous route. Of course, Chouko had agreed with him, they always backed each other up.

Usually, Inori got along great with Shikai. They were both the future heads of their clans, and their parents were best friends. They had spent a lot of time together, and usually trusted each other. But Inori couldn't figure out why Shikai had chosen this route.

The left side of the minefield was much easier to navigate, but Shikai had refused to travel that way, stating that the right side would be better. This confused Inori even more. If he refused to take the left side, surely the next best option would be straight down the middle? While the left side was the safest way, the middle was the quickest. The right side was obviously the worst, yet here they were, slowly making their way across the field, chucking rocks to deactivate the mines.

They were making very slow progress. It took them five minutes to walk twenty metres. Inori was getting more and more impatient.

Just as she was about to snap, a loud boom could be heard, and the ground around them shook. Inori looked up, and saw a massive explosion coming from the left side of the minefield. It was so huge she could see it clearly from this far away. She turned and looked at her teammates. Chouko was staring at the explosion, completely shocked. It was clear he hadn't expected this. But Inori was able to see a tiny smirk on Shikai's face.

"You knew about this didn't you?" she accused.

Shikai sighed and ran his hand through his ponytail.

"I didn't know that there would be a huge explosion. I just knew that most genin would choose to go the left side, seeing as it's easier. The genin with abilities like the Byakugan would go straight down the middle. If we went that way, we would be toast. The stronger and more confident genin would probably choose the left side as well, to lessen the competition. That means that the best option for us was the right side."

He finished his explanation and moved on ahead. The tremors from the explosion had deactivated a lot of the mines, so progress was a lot faster. Inori smiled at Shikai.

He was many things, but he was not an idiot.

!

Hizashi Hyuga had been making steady progress through the middle of the minefield. His Byakugan could pick out most of the traps, and Ning speared the ones he missed with kunai. Lu wasn't doing much, just commenting occasionally about youth. Lee-sensei was having far too much of an effect on him. Thankfully, he hadn't started wearing a spandex suit yet.

The ground started to shake and Hizashi heard a giant boom.

"What was that?" Ning said sharply, a scroll of kunai already in her hand.

Hizashi tried to use his Byakugan to see what had caused the explosion, but he couldn't see far enough. Frustrated, he turned and kept walking.

"Hizashi, what's wrong? What did you see?" Lu asked.

"Nothing Lu." he said shortly, "I saw nothing."

Lu seemed confused by this, but Ning seemed to understand. She grabbed Lu's arm and dragged him behind her.

"Just keep moving." she said. "Hizashi will warn us if anything bad is happening."

Hizashi wished that he could believe her. But he knew that he didn't have the skill or the power to protect his friends. There was nothing special he could do to help the team. For a second, he wondered how Obito was doing. His second cousin was a prodigy with the Byakugan, he doubted he was having much trouble.

!

Obito Hyuga was in trouble. He was in very deep trouble. He had dragged his teammates behind a small bush five seconds earlier. They were both looking at him in confusion, but he put a finger on his lips. They nodded their heads in understanding.

Taking a deep breath, he whispered "Byakugan." He hoped that it was all a mistake, and that the team he had seen was actually friendly.

Unfortunately, his suspicions were confirmed. The three genin he had seen were the Kazekage's kids. They were facing off against another team of genin. Obito wished he could run away. He had already seen enough carnage today. _Maybe Naruko changed since you last saw her._ he thought hopefully.

Five seconds later, when she annihilated the other team, his hopes were dashed. Kawa and Toruko had obviously heard everything, as their faces were white and Kawa was shaking slightly. Obito kept his Byakugan activated.

"Naruko," the boy named Yashamaru spoke. "You really don't need to kill everyone you come across.

Naruko just stared at him coldly.

"I don't want to have to do preliminaries. If I have to kill everyone else then so be it."

"Dad won't be pleased when he finds out." Karura warned.

Naruko started walking.

"I don't care. He never lets me do anything."

Obito shivered slightly. He had met Naruko once before, and he didn't want to see her again. She was worse than Hanabi. At least Hanabi had a reason to be slightly crazy, Naruko was just drunk on power.

He wondered what his aunt was doing now, she was probably laughing at the screams. Forget what he said before, Hanabi was just as bad as Naruko.

!

Hanabi was having a brilliant morning up until she received a visitor.

She had been using her Byakugan to track the genin. When she had seen Hisa blow up half the minefield, she had grinned. _That's my girl!_

The screams of the genin had just made her smile harder. She was half about to break into a dance when someone had come up behind her.

"Hanabi."

She had stiffened when she recognized the voice. Pure hate had coursed through her, followed by a sadness and a hint of regret.

"Hello _Father._" she snarled, turning to face the man.

He remained as emotionless as ever. It reminded her of sixteen years ago, when he had told her that she would become a member of the branch family, and would get the caged bird seal. She had cried, and felt betrayed, but he hadn't shown a single emotion.

She glared at him now.

"What do you want _Father?"_ she snapped angrily.

His gaze remained impassive.

"I came here to inform you that a stranger has been found hiding in the minefield. We are not sure who he is, or what his objective is, but the council sent me here to warn you."

Hanabi pushed all thoughts of her father out of her head. A wicked snarl appeared on her face. Someone was trying to mess with _her _part of the exam? Oh, she would make sure they regretted it.

She turned to leave when a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

"Where are you going?" her father asked.

She snarled at him.

"Where do you think? I'm going to find this man and kill him."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." her father said, still not showing any emotions. "The man has been branded a possible S-Rank, I can't let him kill you."

"Why do _you _care if I die?" she sneered.

"I care about you Hanabi." he said seriously. "I care about you a lot."

She laughed bitterly.

"You _care _about me? Yeah right. It doesn't matter anyway. You wasted fifteen years of my life controlling me and moulding me into the Hyuga heir, then you just abandoned me. You have no say in my life anymore _Father."_

A hint of sadness flickered in his eyes.

"I won't let you get yourself killed Hanabi." he said, as if she was still a naïve child. "If you insist on going, I will have to use force to stop you."

She smiled. She was hoping he would say that.

"Byakugan." she snarled.

"Byakugan." Hiashi echoed.

His chakra points suddenly became visible to her. Her hand darted out, lightning fast. Her father raised his hand to block it, just getting there in time. Her father was good, but he was also retired. She on the other hand, was perfectly fit and motivated. Her next strike managed to get under his defence and cut off a chakra point on his arm.

They fought like this for several minutes. Hiashi managed to get two or three of her chakra points, but she got at least twenty of his. She aimed a kick at his feet and he barely managed to dodge it.

"Rotation!" he yelled.

"Rotation!" she yelled at the same time.

The two chakra shields collided. Hanabi gritted her teeth against the force. His rotation was strong, but so was hers. Slowly, her chakra gained the advantage, and she was able to break her father's shield.

Once he was open, she lashed out, hitting ten of his chakra points in one go. The last strike she gave hit him straight in the heart. He flew backwards and landed heavily on the ground.

She smirked, and walked slowly towards him. He was beaten and they both knew it. She took her time, enjoying the sensation of beating the man she despised most. He looked up at her, desperation written all over his face. _So he has emotions after all._ she thought sarcastically.

"Hanabi." he said quietly. "Please don't make me use the seal. Believe me when I say that I don't want to see you suffer."

She froze, her hand automatically reached up to her forehead.

"Hinata banned that technique." she said, her voice low and hoarse.

Her father's gaze went cold again.

"Hinata is too foolish to do anything to me if I use it. The branch family may idolize her, but you and I both know how weak she is."

Hanabi felt rage bubbling up inside her. She loved her sister, and didn't blame her in the slightest. To hear her father scorn her like that made her hate him even more.

"If you think she's so weak, why the hell did you choose her over me?" she screamed.

Her father didn't answer her. He just stared at her. It pissed Hanabi off, how he thought himself superior to them all. She rushed at him, hand aimed for his head.

Her father closed his eyes, regret flashing across his face.

"Forgive me." he whispered.

Pain erupted in her head. It rushed through her, sharp daggers of it spearing her brain. She clutched her head and crumpled to the ground. Her body shuddering against her will and small tears formed in the corners of her eyes. She could feel the seal burning her, and knew that the skin underneath her fringe would be glowing.

Then, as suddenly as it had started, the pain stopped. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was her father staring down at her, tears running down his face.

_I care about you Hanabi._

_Forgive me._

_Never. _she thought.


	15. Chapter 15

Pain.

Pain and thirst. They were the first things Hisa felt when she opened her eyes. It took a few seconds for her memory to return. She was taking the Chunin Exams, she had used her Rinnegan and accidently blown up a huge part of the minefield. Then she had collapsed from chakra exhaustion. So, where was she now?

She looked around. She was lying on the ground behind a bush. She could hear a river flowing nearby, and she could see a tree hanging over her. Slowly, she pieced everything together.

After the explosion, Nawaki and Oki must have continued on their way. They obviously couldn't leave her behind, so Hisa's best guess was that they carried her. They must have walked pretty far. She didn't recognize the landscape, and the sky was dark. They must have set up camp here. It was a good place to camp, seeing as the tree and the bush gave protection from enemies, and the river provided a fresh source of water.

There was only one piece of evidence missing. Where were her teammates? She slowly sat up, wincing slightly. Her lungs and stomach burned slightly and she had a pounding headache. All her limbs seemed to be functioning. She wiggled her toes and her fingers and found them slightly stiff.

Suddenly, she saw a familiar face coming towards her.

"Nawaki, she's awake." Oki said.

This one sentence made Hisa relax a bit. Her teammates were fine, which meant that she could still complete the exam. The one problem was that Oki's voice seemed slightly muted. The blast must have affected her hearing. She shook her head a few times, and her ears popped.

"How long have I been out?" she asked.

"Around ten hours." Oki answered. "How are you feeling?"

Hisa tried to stand up and groaned.

"My head, stomach, lungs and legs hurt. But I can move fine and it doesn't seem fatal."

"You're one of the lucky ones then."

Hisa recognized that voice. She looked around and spotted Nawaki sitting on a tree branch. His face was hidden from her in the darkness, but she recognized his fake ANBU uniform. She still thought the uniforms were ridiculous. She suddenly realised what he said and frowned.

"What are you talking about, idiot?"

Nawaki jumped off the tree branch. He landed with his face turned away from her, but even from his body language she could tell something was wrong.

"I'm out." he said.

Hisa watched incredously as he began to walk away. What was his problem?

"Nawaki wait." Oki said running over to him and blocking his path. "I understand that you're mad at Hisa but she's confused. Hear her out fully first."

"I've heard enough." Nawaki said, his voice cold. It reminded Hisa of their first C-Rank, when he thought Suigetsu had died.

He turned to leave but Oki grabbed his hand.

"Please," she said "If you leave, you sentence us all to death. I understand that you're mad, and if Hisa irritates you too much you can cool off by the river. Just don't leave for good."

Hisa was completely confused. What had she done that had made Nawaki angry at her? Why was Oki taking his side? Had something happened while she was knocked out?

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Nawaki laughed angrily.

"Oh nothing's wrong, you just slaughtered a bunch of children, that's all."

Hisa frowned.

"Don't be stupid. All I did was blast the mines then I was unconscious. I'm certain I haven't killed anyone."

"Actually Hisa, you did." Oki said gently. "It was an accident-"

"A stupid one." Nawaki muttered

"-but the fact is, you did kill a lot of people."

Hisa tried to understand, she really did. But she couldn't quite process it. They were both looking at her expectantly, and she realised she needed to say something.

"Good." she said. "That makes it easier for us. Less competition, right?"

Nawaki's face turned ugly. He looked like he wanted to hit her. Instead, he turned away.

"I'll be at the river." he said to Oki.

She nodded.

"I'll try to talk some sense into her."

He laughed bitterly.

"Good luck."

Hisa was annoyed. Couldn't they see she was listening to them?

Nawaki ignored her and walked away. Oki watched him go for a minute, then she turned to Hisa with a sigh.

"Sit down." she said, gesturing to the ground.

Hisa obeyed, too tired to argue.

"What are you doing?" she asked as Oki sat down opposite her.

Oki shrugged.

"I'm not really sure. I think I'm giving you a therapy session."

Hisa took a minute to comprehend that. The first thing she felt was indignation.

"Oki, I do not need a therapy session, especially not now. I am perfectly fine. Killing is a part of being a shinobi."

"Hisa, you really, really do need therapy. I know you feel terrible about killing those people, even if you don't know it yet."

Hisa opened her mouth to say that she really, really didn't, but Oki interrupted her.

"You may act like a cold-hearted bitch but you're still six years old. You know what you did, so your body is probably in shock right now. I'm here to help you through."

Part of Hisa cracked at that, but she kept her walls up. She wasn't ready to open up, not yet.

"Oki, this whole thing is stupid. Did you just call me a _bitch_?"

"No, I said you _acted _like one. I said that because it's true. You do act like one, but you're not really like that Naruko kid. You're not really fine with this."

Hisa still gave no response. Oki sighed.

"Look, think of it like this, Obito could have been caught in that blast. You might just have killed your own brother. You can't feel good about that?"

Hisa shrugged.

"I feel perfectly fine actually. After all, didn't Hanabi tell me to try and kill him? By the way, I'm telling your mother what you called me."

Oki reached forward and slapped Hisa across the face. Hisa was too shocked to do anything back.

"You're lying Hisa. You're lying to yourself, as well as to me. Deep down, you know that."

"Oki, let me explain something to you. Therapists do not _slap _their patients."

Oki shrugged.

"I never said I was qualified. But back to you, you understand now that your brother is possibly dead, and it's your fault. Doesn't that make you feel anything?"

"If you're trying to guilt trip me it won't work." Hisa told her coldy. "I'm not going to break down in the middle of the Chunin Exams. Besides, why wouldn't I be fine with it? Hanabi-"

"Hanabi's messed up and you know that."

A mixture of a laugh and a sob escaped Hisa.

"Well in case you haven't noticed, I'm messed up too."

Oki seemed to notice that she was finally caving. Her voice became softer.

"You're not messed up Hisa. You're just confused and scared. Tell me why, ok? I won't tell anyone else."

Hisa looked up at her, desperation in her eyes.

"Did I really kill that many people?" she asked.

Oki nodded sadly.

"But it was an accident. It's natural to feel guilty about it, but you also have to learn how to forgive yourself." She paused. "Wow. Maybe I should be a therapist after all."

Hisa laughed at that, but sobered up once she remembered what she had done. Tears formed in her eyes as it hit her fully. She had become a mass murderer in the space of a few hours. She took a deep breath and began to explain how she felt.

"There's a huge part of me that's just full of guilt right now." she explained hesitantly. Oki just sat there, waiting patiently. "But there's another part of me that's just really annoyed at myself. For… For losing control. I have this Rinnegan, and I thought that the Chunin Exams would be the perfect time to show how much control I have of it. Instead, I mess up and kill a bunch of people. Everyone probably hates me right now."

"I don't hate you." Oki said camly. "I heard and saw everything, but I don't hate you. Nawaki will come around-"

"Don't." Hisa said. "Don't try and make me feel better. I shouldn't even be thinking about myself right now. I should be thinking about the children I killed, and the families that will soon be grieving. Believe me, I'm trying to think of them, but it just comes back to me. That makes me feel even guiltier. All I can think about is myself, and I hate myself for that." she let out a choked sob. "I really, really hate myself."

With that, all her emotions seemed to come pouring out, and she collapsed onto Oki, crying and sobbing. Oki just hugged her, and didn't say a word. Hisa just cried and cried. She hated how she was so weak, she hated that she couldn't think of crying as anything but a weakness. She hated how confused she was feeling. She didn't even know why exactly she was crying. She just did.

Eventually, her sobs became hiccups and her tears stopped flowing as heavily. She sat up and wiped her eyes.

"Sorry about your top." she mumbled.

Oki smiled.

"Don't worry about it. It's waterproof. Look, what I want you to understand is crying and feeling guilty doesn't make you a weak shinobi. In fact, I think it makes you the opposite. So listen, you understand a bit better now don't you?"

Hisa nodded, not trusting her voice just yet. Suddenly, she felt exhausted. She lay back in the grass and enjoyed the sound of silence. After her emotional breakdown, it was a relief to feel so empty. After a minute, she turned to Oki.

"Oki?" she said

"Yes?"

"Thanks." she said quietly. "Thanks for putting up with my… bitchiness."

Oki laughed at that.

"Hisa, I've put up with your bitchiness for years now. You're not yourself without it. Promise me you won't have a total personality change, that'll just freak me out."

Hisa laughed.

"Don't worry, I don't think I can stop."

"Good." Oki said.

There was silence for another few minutes until Hisa sat up and sighed.

"I've got to go apologize to Nawaki now don't I?"

Oki nodded.

"Be nice." she warned. "Don't call him an idiot, and try not to put anyone down."

"Got it." Hisa said.

She stood up and began walking over to the riverbank. This was going to be a _very _awkward conversation.

**A/N This chapter was difficult to write because of all the different emotions Hisa went through. I had to do this chapter though, because it's a big part of Hisa's character development. She finally realised that she wasn't as good as she thought. I loved writing Oki this chapter, as she genuinely cares about Hisa, and is a lot more level-headed than Nawaki. Anyway, I hope this chapter was ok, and I'll try and do better next chapter with Nawaki. I wanted to put in some NaruHina to lighten the mood, but I decided not to in the end. They will be in the next chapter though.**


	16. Chapter 16

Nawaki sat by the river, just listening to the water flow. It soothed him and relaxed him, but it also made him focus.

Nawaki wasn't stupid. He might not be as smart as Hisa book-wise or jutsu-wise, but he was extremely mature for a seven year old boy. He had been furious at Hisa, but sitting by the river helped calm him down. He was able to focus on what was really making his blood boil.

He was mad at Hisa. That much he knew. The way she had just callously dismissed killing those people had made him want to lash out. But he knew deep down that she did care. He just hoped Oki would be able to help her, otherwise he would find it very hard to forgive her.

A more cool and focused part of Nawaki was trying to work out what he was really mad about. Hisa had been a jerk, but the explosion _had _been an accident. As he sat here in the peace and quiet, he was able to understand why he felt so mad at her.

It was the whole idea of the children dying. He had heard the screams, and although Oki had tried her best to stop him, he had managed to see one mangled body. It had sickened him and confused him. Shinobi were supposed to protect their village and the people of the villages, so why were the villages killing their own shinobi? He understood that the Chunin Exams existed to find the strongest of the shinobi, but why did so much weak shinobi have to die in the process? Nawaki felt like he had been cheated. He had become a shinobi because his dream was to protect his friends. But this didn't feel like he was trying to protect his friends, it felt like he was trying to kill them. In Nawaki's mind, it was utterly wrong.

He felt someone sit down next to him, and it brought him out of his thoughts. He turned, expecting to see Oki, and was completely surprised to see it was Hisa next to him.

"What do you want?" he said shortly.

Hisa looked different to Nawaki. She wasn't smirking at him, or sneering at him or even being indifferent to him. She just looked confused, and she looked at Nawaki like he had the answers.

"I came to apologize." she said quietly.

Nawaki snorted. She would have to do better than that.

"Did Oki put you up to this?" he sneered.

She didn't sneer back, she just shook her head.

"No." she said simply. "I could tell she wanted me to, but it was my decision."

"That's very good of you." he snapped.

Part of him wondered why he was acting so harshly. It was mainly anger. Anger he hadn't quite found the right place to store, so for now he was projecting it at Hisa. It made him feel good to see her so upset. _She should be._ He stood up and turned to walk away. But a hand reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"Nawaki, please." she whispered.

Hisa had displayed many different emotions, but this was the first time Nawaki had seen her look desperate. Sighing, he sat back down. She took a deep breath, and began to talk.

"I'm sorry Nawaki, I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry that I blew the minefield up, and I'm sorry that I killed all those people." her voice cracked slightly. "Most of all, I'm sorry that you had to experience it all. Believe me when I say I would never wish that on anybody. I'm just… really, really sorry."

She opened her mouth to say something else, but in the end, she just closed it and looked at Nawaki.

Nawaki thought it over. Her apology was genuine, that much he knew. It would take some time to get over the screams, but his anger had faded. He was ready to forgive her. He smiled at her.

"Don't worry about it anymore." he said cheerfully. "Let's just focus on surviving ok?"

She smiled back at him, then she held out her hand hesitantly.

"Are we good now?" she asked.

He grabbed her hand and curled her fingers in gently until it became a fist. Then he bumped his own fist against hers.

"Yes." he said. "We're good. As long as you remember to fistbump, not shake hands."

She grinned.

"Let's go back to the camp and pack up. It's almost morning time."

Nawaki blinked and looked around. He hadn't noticed how much time had passed.

"You're right, let's go." he said. "I need to thank Oki for doing whatever she did to make you see sense."

"Don't thank her." Hisa grumbled. "She slapped me across the face."

Nawaki tried to hide his laughter.

"Did it work?"

Hisa shrugged.

"In the end it did. I still wouldn't recommend her as a therapist to anyone."

"Therapist?"

"Long story."

They filled their water bottles with fresh water from the river, then they made their way back to the camp. Oki was lying under the tree, fast asleep. Hisa seemed to enjoy splashing her awake with the water. Oki on the other hand, was not amused.

"Why exactly did you feel the need to do that?" she grumbled.

Hisa shrugged, trying to hide the grin on her face. Nawaki couldn't help laughing.

"Let's go." he said quickly, before Oki got the chance to murder Hisa. They packed their bags and set off.

They had long since left the scorched land that Hisa had created. They were back to the grassy land that was filled with mines. This time though, they used stones to detonate the mines. It was slow going, but they managed to walk a few miles by the time the sun set. Nawaki had actually enjoyed the day. He was able to chat naturally with both Oki and Hisa, which was a first.

The sky was getting darker now, which made it harder to see the ground in front of them. Not for the first time, Nawaki wished he could use his sharingan. Navigating the field would be so much easier if he could see all the mines.

They kept walking for another few minutes. The ground in front of them got steeper and slipperier. Nawaki noticed that the ground ahead seemed to just disappear. As he got closer, he realised it was a gorge. Luckily, there was a bridge going across it, although it didn't look very steady. He went to step on it, but Hisa blocked his path.

"Be careful." she whispered "It could be a trap."

He nodded. "What should we do?"

"I'll go first." Hisa decided. "If there's anything wrong with the bridge I can use my Rinnegan to push myself to safety."

It seemed to be the best course of action, so Nawaki agreed. Slowly, Hisa inched he way across the bridge. It creaked a lot, and once or twice Nawaki thought it would break, but Hisa made it to the other side.

"Oki, you go next." he said.

She seemed to be thinking about something.

"Hisa, do you think you could pull me over with your Rinnegan?" she asked

Hisa thought about it.

"I think so. Most of my chakra is restored so I should be able to."

"Try not to blow everything up this time." Nawaki muttered quietly.

She rolled her eyes at him, before stretching out her hands.

"Universal Pull!"

Oki went flying across the bridge. Unfortunately, Hisa wasn't quick enough to catch her, and they both ended up falling onto the ground.

"You're next Nawaki." Oki called.

Nawaki laughed.

"I think I'll take my chances with the bridge."

He slowly put one foot out and tested the wood. The sun had fully disappeared, which made it hard to see where he could walk. Once he found the wood to be sturdy, he took another step. He repeated this pattern until he was halfway across the bridge.

Then everything went wrong.

He took another step. For a few seconds nothing happened, but then he heard the wood creak under his feet. He panicked as he realised what was about to happen. The wood snapped in two, and both his feet fell into the gorge. He managed to grab onto the bridge with his right hand, but the rest of him was left dangling in mid-air. He heard Oki scream, and Hisa yell, but he couldn't focus on what they were saying. All his energy was focused on holding onto the bridge. His arms looked small, but they were strong. He knew he could hang here for at least an hour if he had to.

Unfortunately, the bridge was not as strong. With another snap, the wood he had been holding onto broke away from the bridge, and Nawaki dropped into the gorge. The last thing he remembered was his teammates screaming his name.

Then everything went black.

!

Hinata burst into Naruto's office.

"What's wrong? The council is suddenly panicking but they won't tell me why. What's happened?"

Naruto threw on his Hokage cape. He looked extremely annoyed.

"Apparently there's an intruder in the Chunin Exams. The council knew about this for hours but they only decided to tell me ten minutes ago! I'm just getting ready to leave now."

Hinata smiled.

"I hope you know that I'm coming with you?"

His face softened and he leant down to kiss her.

"Do you really think I would leave you behind?"

She smiled, trying to ignore the distracting, bubbly warmth coming from her stomach. Sometimes, Naruto could be absolutely charming.

"Let's go and show this idiot not to mess with the Hokage."

Naruto smiled.

"I couldn't agree more."


	17. Chapter 17

Neither of them spoke after Nawaki fell. They just stood there, staring down into the gorge and waiting. Hisa didn't know what they were waiting for. Nawaki couldn't climb back up to them as it was too steep, but she refused to believe he was dead. She could hear Oki sobbing next to her, but she kept her eyes glued to the darkness of the gorge_. Who the hell puts a gorge in the middle of a minefield?_ Hisa wondered absentmindedly.

Eventually, she realized that they would have to keep moving. Otherwise, they would be blown up, and she knew that Hanabi wouldn't hesitate when the time ran out. She turned and began to walk.

"Come on Oki." she said. "Nawaki will catch up with us."

Oki didn't move.

"Hisa," she whispered "He's dead isn't he? He couldn't have survived the fall. He's dead. Nawaki's dead."

Hisa ignored the tears that were threatening to spill. This had to happen just when she and Nawaki had managed to go a day without fighting.

"Now you're the one being stupid Oki." she said calmly. "Nawaki's not dead. He got stabbed in the stomach three times and didn't even scar, and remember that time when he tripped and fell off the roof of the Hokage's building? I'm pretty sure he doesn't know how to die."

She tried to get Oki to move but she dug her feet in.

"What's the point in getting to the gate Hisa? Without Nawaki we can't leave."

Hisa sighed. Oki was usually the positive one of the team. Nawaki's fall (Hisa refused to think of it as his death.) had shaken her badly. Hisa hoped she would snap out of it.

"If Nawaki is… late in catching up with us we'll just have to cheat."

Oki moved at last. She turned and looked at Hisa curiously.

"Cheat?"

Hisa nodded.

"Yep. I can use my Rinnegan to levitate us over the fence surrounding this field. If they won't let us out then we'll just find a spot where they aren't looking."

A hint of a smile flicked at Oki's mouth.

"No offense Hisa but all of the times you used your Rinnegan today people ended up dying."

"Nawaki's not dead." Hisa argued.

Oki still didn't look convinced but she began walking. Hisa followed her, trying to think of ways to convince her. She was annoyed at Oki for acting like this. She herself was trying to cope with the possibility that Nawaki was dead. (_He's _not _dead, he's _not_ dead. _her mind chanted) She didn't have enough energy to motivate Oki as well.

"Listen Oki." she said at last. "When Nawaki catches up with us, do you think he'll like it that you doubted him so much."

Oki laughed, but it wasn't a happy sound.

"Hisa, I think I would doubt the ability to live of anyone who fell at least twenty feet with nothing to break their fall."

"Kawa's uncle managed it." Hisa argued. "Remember when he told us about his fight with that two headed freak?"

"You're dad said he was exaggerating." Oki pointed out.

"Father exaggerates a lot himself." Hisa countered.

Oki shrugged.

"The point is, the chance that Nawaki's alive is around one in a million. I'm just trying to accept it."

"If someone told you that you would be on the same team as the Sage of the Six Paths what would you say the odds of that were?"

"You're not the Sage of the Six Paths Hisa." Oki said wearily.

Hisa smirked. "Give me a few more years and you'll see."

Oki rolled her eyes.

"Look, let's just agree to disagree."

"Fine." Hisa sighed; an idea came into her head. "But only after we make a bet."

Oki looked at suspiciously.

"You hate gambling."

"My Senju DNA is taking over."

Oki rolled her eyes again. But Hisa knew she was interested.

"What's the bet?"

"If Nawaki's alive and if he joins us before the end of this exam then you have to pay me 10,000 yen and you also have to do all my chores on missions, like hunting and setting up my tent. If he doesn't catch up with us or… well, you know then vice versa."

Oki looked at her sceptically.

"You would bet your teammate's life?"

Hisa grinned. She firmly believed Nawaki was alive, but if Oki refused to listen to her why shouldn't she take advantage of his absence?

"Why do you care? You're the one convinced he's dead."

Oki sighed.

"Fine, it's a bet. Now let's hurry up, we're going too slow."

Hisa grinned.

"Well, if you want I could blow up some mines with my Rinne-"

"NO!" Oki yelled.

Hisa laughed.

"I'm only joking. Look there's a small wood over there. If we go over there we can tree-jump."

They made their way over to where the trees started. There were a few paper bombs strapped to the trees, but they were a lot easier to avoid then the mines. The two of them began to jump from branch to branch.

The trees went on for longer than Hisa expected. It was a stroke of good luck that they had found them. Oki detonated a paper bomb once, but she managed to dodge the blast. Other than that, they had encountered no trouble. An hour had gone by before they made contact with anyone else.

Hisa frowned. Something was making her feel uneasy, and trusting your sixth sense was important for shinobi.

"Stop for a minute Oki." she said quietly. "I think something's wrong."

Oki stopped and looked around.

"Do you think it's a trap?"

"Probably. My guess is another genin team trying to eliminate the competition."

Hisa found she had guessed right when a giant shockwave flew through the trees. It blasted the two of them off the tree branches. They tumbled to the ground, Hisa barley managing to land on her feet.

"Who's there?" she said loudly, scanning the area for enemies.

She heard a shrill giggle and three genin appeared in front of her. They were all at least eight years older than her, and much, much taller.

"Look what we have here guys." the one in the middle shrieked.

The voice was annoyingly high, and it's owner dressed so strangely that Hisa couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl. The other two were definitely boys. They were both bulky, and one was bald. The one in the middle looked around fifteen, while the boys looked like full-grown adults. It was clear the boy/girl in the middle was the leader. After staring at her for a bit Hisa decided that she was a girl. They all looked capable so Hisa decided to try and reason with them.

"There's no point attacking us." she said, trying to sound calm. "We've lost a teammate so we can't leave anyway."

The girl let out another shriek of a laugh.

"Oh, we're not here to lessen the competition, we heard about you're… unusual doujutsu. We're here to test ourselves against it."

Behind her, she heard Oki sigh.

"Rinnegan this, Rinnegan that, why does no one ever talk to us just because they enjoy our company?"

The girl ignored her. She turned to the bald man.

"Noriaki, do your thing."

Hisa tensed, expecting the man to attack. Instead, he just opened his mouth and screamed. Hisa looked around, wondering what the scream was for. Her eyes widened when she noticed Oki lying on the ground, unmoving. Hisa ran over to Oki and felt for a pulse, but found none. Panic seized her. How had Oki been hit? Why was she so cold? She couldn't possibly be dead! Hisa had already lost Nawaki, she refused to lose Oki as well.

She noticed that the screaming had stopped and looked around. Where had the other team gone? She searched the whole area, but she couldn't see them anywhere. She looked closer, something felt off. She stared at a tree for a few seconds, until she realised what the problem was. Nothing was moving. There was no wind blowing and there were no sounds at all.

She was in a genjutsu.

She tried to think of what Naruto had told her about breaking out of them, but her mind was drawing a blank. Any second now, the enemy could attack and she would be helpless. She slapped herself across the face and was surprised when she felt the sting. So she wasn't completely trapped in her mind, it was just an illusion on her surroundings. That gave her an idea.

She reached into her kunai pouch and pulled one out. She hesitated for a second before plunging the kunai into her leg. She made sure to plunge it into her calf because if it went into her thigh she could lose a lot of blood. She winced as the pain hit her, but the stab did the trick. The genjutsu disappeared and she was able to see her real surroundings.

Oki was lying on the ground, but Hisa could see the rise and fall of her chest. They had only knocked her out. She turned around and saw the three ninja grinning at her.

"Not bad little girl." the shrill voiced one said. "But can you save your friend too?"

She drew out a few shuriken and threw them at Oki. Hisa ran as fast as she could, scooped Oki up just before the shuriken hit her, and ran for cover behind a tree. She weaved from tree to tree until she was sure the other team couldn't see her. She gently laid Oki down at the base of the tree. She knew Oki wouldn't wake up unless Hisa used force, and she needed Oki for this fight.

She tried to ignore the part of her that was screaming _Revenge is mine! _She quickly leant over and slapped Oki across the face as hard as she could. For a second, Hisa thought it wouldn't work. But Oki's eyes shot open and she sat up, looking around blearily.

"Oh, hey Hisa." she murmured. "I had this crazy dream where Nawaki fell off a bridge into this huge deep gorge and then we were attacked by this random genin team trying to test their strength by pitting it against your Rinnegan."

She noticed Hisa's expression.

"That wasn't a dream was it?"

"Sadly, no. Look, we need to hurry before the creepy team find us."

"Too late." the shrill voice sang out.

Hisa looked up to see the rain of kunai heading straight towards them. She and Oki dived out of the way just in time. She rolled to her feet to see Oki face off against the bald man. She thought she heard the woman call him Noriaki. The other two genin landed in front of Hisa. She didn't know their names so she dubbed the man Hook-Nose since his nose was shaped oddly. The girl she christened Squeaky-Voice for obvious reasons.

"So you want to fight me do you?" she growled. "I'm not having a good day, and since I've already killed at least twenty innocent children I don't really care about adding two more to that."

The girl gave yet another shrill laugh, although it was a mocking laugh.

"You can say whatever you want little girl, but the only way to satisfy us is to prove how good you are with action!"

"That sounds slightly sexual!" she heard Oki yell.

Squeaky-Voice frowned.

"Noriaki, kill that one quickly! She's irritating me!"

"She irritates me as well." Hisa said casually. "But not as much as my other teammate. Although I'm still sad that he fell into the gorge."

Hisa wasn't sure why she was acting like this, maybe it was because of the woman's irritating voice. Squeaky-Voice seemed to be getting angrier.

"Are you mocking me, brat?" she snarled.

Hisa shrugged.

"Not really, just trying to make pleasant conversation before a fight. But that doesn't seem to be your thing so let's just get to the fighting part."

She got into a taijutsu stance, keeping one eye on each opponent. Hook-Nose was the one to make the first move. He sent out a shockwave not unlike Hisa's first use of the Rinnegan. Hisa jumped over it, but the man hadn't been looking where he had aimed the shockwave. It hit the bald man who was fighting Oki and sent him flying into a tree. His eyelids fluttered but he made some hand-seals and before he fell unconscious, he spat out a fireball. Oki dodged it, but she forgot to look behind her and hit her head on a tree branch, knocking her out. Hisa couldn't help smirking at that. She knew Oki was alright because she could see she was breathing.

She turned back to her own opponents and raised an eyebrow.

"I haven't even done anything yet and I'm already down an opponent. Are you two sure you want to fight me?"

Hook-Nose snarled. He lunged at Hisa but she dodged and flung two kunai at him. While he was distracted she punched him and kicked him, but he blocked both. She flipped over him and dodged the foot he sent flying at her stomach. While he was off balance she aimed another few punches at him but he blocked every one of them. It reminded her of the first time she fought Nawaki, which made her angry. She didn't have time to be fighting these strangers. She was distracted for a few seconds, and she almost missed the kick he aimed at her head. She managed to duck just in time, but she was getting fed up.

She stuck out her right hand and aimed it at the man.

"Almighty Push!" she yelled.

Hook-Nose flew backwards and slammed into a tree. He fell onto the ground and didn't get back up. Hisa herself fell onto one knee. She was breathing heavily. She had used up most of her chakra with that last attack. But she had defeated the man so it was alright.

Suddenly, she remembered that she had two opponents. She tried to stand back up but it was too late. A few well-placed shuriken pinned her to the ground. She struggled to raise her head as the girl strutted towards her, still giggling in that shrill voice.

"Looks like I win this fight, little girl. I think I'll take your Rinnegan as a reward."

Hisa struggled to keep the fear out of her voice.

"Congratulations. You ganged up on two girls half your age and beat them up. You must be so proud. You even got the boys to do all your dirty work."

"How dare you!" Squeaky-Voice spluttered. "I'm a boy too!"

Hisa frowned thoughtfully.

"Are you sure about that?"

The girl/boy screamed angrily. She grabbed a kunai and jumped on top of Hisa. Hisa struggled to breath under the crushing weight. This girl/boy/thing was _heavy. _

"I'm going to kill you now." Squeaky-Voice snarled.

Hisa closed her eyes. She didn't want her last memory to be of an ugly looking cross-dresser staring down at her. She heard the rush of air and knew that the kunai was coming towards her head.

Suddenly, the weight was jerked of her and the kunai fell harmlessly onto her chest. She opened her eyes and looked around, wondering who had saved her. Squeaky-Voice was pinned to a tree by a few kunai and shuriken. She was shrieking and snarling, but Hisa ignored her.

Who had saved her?

"Sorry I'm late. I got a bit distracted."

Her head snapped over to the tree on her right. There, standing on a branch, looking extremely smug, was Nawaki. She grinned at him. She wanted to laugh, cry and hug him all at the same time. Instead, she just smirked.

"What took you so long?"

!

Naruto and Hinata stood outside the minefield. Hinata was searching the area with her Byakugan.

"The intruder must be further in the field."

Naruto nodded.

"Alright, I'm going in."

He jumped over the fence and landed inside the field.

"Naruto, be careful, that field is…"

"AH! HINATA HELP! WHY IS THE GROUND EXPLODING?"

"… filled with mines."

With a sigh, she took off to help her husband.

**_A/N I think I'm going to change the summary soon, because the one that I'm using is terrible. Anyways, I'll explain what happened to Nawaki next chapter, as well as who the mysterious intruder is. Thanks again to everyone who read/reviewed._**


	18. Chapter 18

**SIX HOURS AGO.**

Nawaki opened his eyes. At least, he thought he did. All around him was darkness, so he couldn't be sure. He tried activating his sharingan but his mind was still dazed. He tried to remember what had happened. The last thing he remembered was falling of the bridge. Then all he could remember was darkness.

He flexed his hands and stretched his legs. Everything was working fine, and there was no pain. That was good, but Nawaki still didn't understand how he had survived. He tried once again to activate his sharingan and this time, it worked. The two tomoe appeared in each of his eyes. He tried looking around again. He was in a cave, deep underground. He knew he was under the minefield because he could hear the explosions. He was lying on a blanket that was draped over a slab of stone. Nawaki gathered all this information then stored it at the back of his mind so that he could focus on the immediate danger.

He wasn't alone.

The figure moved out of the shadows. He was tall enough, and Nawaki could tell he was a man. His face was invisible to Nawaki, which he didn't understand. His sharingan should be able to see the man's face, even in the darkness. The man came closer, and Nawaki's hand twitched towards his kunai pouch. To his surprise, the man chuckled.

"So you are an Uchiha after all." he said in a deep voice.

Nawaki didn't like the sound of him. Some would say he was judging a book by its cover but the man sounded evil.

"I may have the sharingan but I'm not an Uchiha." Nawaki said, trying to sound braver then he felt.

"Don't lie to me child, I know who your father is." the man stated.

"As do I, but despite that I don't consider myself part of the clan." It was the truth. Nawaki knew he had Uchiha blood, but he had always thought of himself as a Haruno. He didn't want to be an Uchiha.

"You have the sharingan boy. I don't care what you think you are, as long as you have that. It will always mark you as an Uchiha, whether you like it or not."

"What do you want with me?" Nawaki demanded.

The man gave another low chuckle.

"Calm down child, I'm not here to hurt you. I saved your life didn't I?"

Nawaki's eyes widened.

"You were the one that saved me when I fell off the bridge? How?"

"I have my ways." the man replied. "In time, you'll come to learn them. But for today, I am merely here to introduce myself, and to learn your name."

"What are you talking about?" Nawaki demanded.

"Tell me your name and I'll explain."

Nawaki thought it over. The man seemed to know who he was anyways, and he couldn't see a way out of the cave. If he had any chance of surviving, he needed this man. He sighed and gave in.

"My name is Nawaki." he said. "What about you?"

The man smirked.

"I'll tell you next time we meet. The reason I came here today was to save you. When next meet, remember this talk. I am not, nor will I ever be, your enemy. No matter what you do, I will never harm you. Do you understand?"

Nawaki was extremely confused, but he decided to go along with this man's craziness.

"Yes." he said. "I understand. Is that all?"

The man laughed.

"Yes, that is all. I'll take you back up to the surface now. Your teammates are currently in the middle of a fight. You'll find them in the grove of trees fifty metres ahead of you. Just run straight. Got it?"

Nawaki nodded, but he realised that the man wouldn't be able to see him in the dark. He opened his mouth but the man had already begun to use his jutsu. A huge amount of chakra spiralled around the dark hole that was the man's face. The focus point seemed to be where the man's right eye lay. Nawaki stared harder at him, trying to see anything that would give him a clue about the man's identity.

He stared into the focal point until his sharingan saw through the chakra. Just as he saw the man's eye, everything began to warp. Nawaki found himself being sucked into the man's eye. He was scared for a few seconds, until he remembered the man's promise not to hurt him. He didn't trust this man, but he did believe his speech about not being enemies was genuine.

His whole body was sucked into the man's eye. Once again, his world went dark, but this time it only lasted a few seconds. He felt himself being warped again and with a thump, he landed on grass. He blinked and looked around. He was definitely in the minefield, and up ahead he could see the grove of trees the man had told him about.

The man! Where was he? Nawaki looked around wildly. Suddenly, he heard the man's voice from behind him.

"I shall leave now. I don't think I'm welcome here. We won't see each other for a long time, young Nawaki but one day, we shall meet again."

With that, the man disappeared. Nawaki stayed on the ground, trying to wrap his head around what had just happened. Teleportation jutsus were extremely rare and difficult, but that wasn't what was worrying Nawaki. He had deactivated his sharingan, but he had managed to catch a glimpse of the man's eye. He recognized it from both his own eyes and his mother's stories.

The man had the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Trembling, Nawakik got to his feet. He began to run towards the woods, trying not to think about the man. He decided to keep the whole meeting a secret. The man knew who he was, and if he told anyone he had met the man, they would want the full story. What he needed to do was wait until he got a mission and then he would talk to his mother about it.

He reached Hisa just in time to see the strangely dressed girl pin her to the ground. The girl raised a kunai to kill Hisa.

Like Nawaki was going to let that happen.

He reached into his pouch and grabbed a random bunch of tools. He threw the mixture of shuriken and kunai at the girl, just snagging the top of her dress. The force of the weapons yanked her off Hisa. She flew through the air until the weapons embedded themselves into a tree. She was left dangling there, screaming angry curses.

Nawaki grinned down as Hisa finally noticed him.

"Sorry I'm late. I got a bit distracted." he called down.

She smirked.

"What took you so long?"

He laughed and jumped down onto her branch. She was removing the shuriken that had were stuck in her clothes.

"Seriously though, are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, actually I'm completely fine. I don't even have a scratch."

"How did you manage that?" she asked in disbelief.

He grinned smugly.

"You'll learn my tricks one day. But until then keep trying."

She glared at him and he quickly changed the subject.

"Where's Oki?"

She pointed over to where Oki was lying in the ground. Nawaki gasped and rushed over to her. He breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed she was breathing.

"What happened to her?" he asked.

Hisa smirked. "She hit her head on a branch and it knocked her out."

Nawaki laughed. His laugh was loud enough for Oki to wake up. She blinked a few times, eyes blearily scanning around the place. She gasped when her eyes saw Nawaki.

"Nawaki, how are you here? Am I in heaven?"

He was about to answer her but Hisa interrupted.

"If you were in heaven you wouldn't owe me 10,000 yen. But you aren't, so you do."

Oki groaned and lay back down.

"Damn." she muttered. "Now I kinda wish we were all in heaven and not alive."

Nawaki was lost. What the hell were they talking about? Girls were confusing creatures at the best of times.

"Um… Shouldn't we get going? We only have a few hours left before the gates close."

Oki nodded, then winced. There was a small bruise at the back of her head. She pushed herself off the ground. They turned to leave, but she reached over and pulled Nawaki into a hug.

"I'm glad you're alive. Really, really glad." she whispered.

Nawakk didn't know what to say. He groaned slightly as he felt himself go red. He had been trying to control his blushing over the past few months. But it was clearly not working very well.

!

They made it to the gates just as the sun began to set. Hanabi was waiting for them, along with Ino and Shikamaru. Nawaki was surprised to see Naruto and Hinata there as well.

"Hisa!" Hinata cried.

She rushed over and enveloped Hisa in a hug. Ino went over to Oki and gave her a quick hug as well. Oki grinned proudly.

"Hisa, I was so worried about you! What were you thinking of causing that big explosion? Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

"This is not the time for this Mother." Hisa grumbled.

Hinata glared at her.

"Don't you 'mother' me! You are in _so _much trouble young lady! You could have killed your own brother!"

"Obito's alive?" Hisa gasped.

Naruto nodded.

"Yep. Oki, your sister is alive as well, and so is Hizashi. All three of their teams made it out in time."

Nawaki saw Obito come ambling up to them. He recognized him from the times he had been over at Hisa's house. As far as he could remember, Obito was a genuinely nice guy. He seemed to be glad to see his sister.

"Hey Hisa." Obito grinned. "I know we don't get on, but trying to blow me up was a bit too much."

For a second, Nawaki thought Hisa would hug him. Instead, she glared at him.

"Obito, did you rat me out to Mother?" she hissed.

Obito shrugged.

"It was hard not to. They all wanted to know how the big explosion happened. I had no choice."

Hisa looked like she was going to argue but Hinata interfered.

"That's _enough._ We'll talk about this later. For now, listen to Naruto. He'll explain the last stage of the exams."

Naruto stepped forward, and Nawaki watched as the genin crowded around him. It seemed that the only ones who had passed were them, Obito's team, the Ino-Shika-Cho team, and Hizashi Hyuga's team. He thought that was everyone when he noticed the Kazekage's children walk up to them.

"First of all, congratulations to all of you for passing. You proved that you are the best of the genin. The question now is who is the single best genin? We'll give you a month to train, to learn new moves. Then, the real exam will begin! You'll all fight one on one matches, and the winner will progress to the next round. We'll judge your worth as a chunin depending on your performance in the matches. Any questions?"

Most of the genin, including Nawaki, had already known about the matches, so Naruto dismissed them. As Nawaki was leaving, Oki came over to him.

"Cover your eyes and ears." she muttered. "Hanabi's blowing up the field."

Nawaki's eyes widened.

"She was serious about that?"

Oki nodded grimly.

"She's insane, and I mean psycho insane. Just don't listen."

Nawaki did what she had advised and covered his ears and eyes. But he still heard Hanabi give one crazy laugh. He decided to find out what the hell was wrong with that woman.

But that was an adventure for another day. For now, he put Hanabi and her insanity to the back of his mind and he and Oki went off to get some Ichiraku ramen. Life was good.


	19. Chapter 19

As soon as Naruto dismissed them, Hisa went directly to the training ground. For a minute she had thought about joining Nawaki and Oki for ramen, but she dismissed that idea. She needed to spend as much time possible training. She only had a month to get strong enough. It was harder for her than it had been for her parents as, unlike them, she wouldn't know who she was fighting until the day. Her biggest worry was Naruko, Hisa was one of the few people who had seen what that girl could do. Naruko could kill you in ten different ways in five seconds. Hisa remembered the time she and her family had gone to Suna. Being closest to Naruko in age, they had been put 'playing' together. They had gone outside, and Hisa had been surprised to see the way everyone avoided them. Anytime someone walked past, they stared at the ground and didn't look up until they were far away.

This had confused Hisa. Back in Konoha, it was the opposite way for her. All the villagers stared at her and whispered to each other when she walked past. Why was it different for Naruko? She soon found out when a small toddler had come running along. He had tripped and fallen, and then he started crying. His mother had come running along, but as she picked him up, she had glanced fearfully at Naruko.

Naruko had just stared at the woman. Then she had held out her hand. The woman had slammed through the wall before Hisa had time to blink. Naruko had just continued to walk like nothing had happened.

"Why did you do that?" Hisa had asked.

"She looked at me funny." Naruko had stated calmly. "No one is allowed to look at me except for important people like you."

"Why not?" Hisa had asked, wondering why there was a law against looking at Naruko.

Naruko looked at her like she was stupid.

"Because if they look at me in a way I don't like, I'll kill them."

Hisa had avoided Naruko for the rest of the day. Two years later and the girl hadn't changed a bit. Hisa knew the Kazekage was having problems with Naruko; her father had often let it slip at the dinner table. Gaara was trying his best to control his daughter, but she was growing stronger and stronger, and it got harder and harder to stop her from getting her way. Hisa knew she would be one of the hardest opponents in the exam, simply because she had no problem with killing every single one of them.

This was why she spent the whole day practising her push and pull. By the end of the day, she could break five trees with one push, and three trees with her pull. It still wasn't close to what she wanted, but it was good enough for one day. Naruto had promised to help her tomorrow with her summoning jutsu. She wanted to have a lot of chakra left for that, so she called it a day.

As she walked back to her house, she found it harder for some reason to ignore to looks and the whispers. You would think that after three months, people would stop staring at her eyes. Apparently, not in Konoha. The civilians still stared at her as she walked by. Hisa even saw a few chunin whispering. She gritted her teeth and tried to ignore it all. She had gotten used to it long ago, but spending a few days in the minefield without feeling like everyone was looking at her had made her relax. Now, she felt all the pressure come back. She wanted to run back to the training field and continue practising. Instead, she jumped onto a rooftop and made her way home from there.

Dinner with her family was normal. Naruto talked about his arrangement with Gaara. The other Kage would be coming to the exam, but since the only genin competing were from Suna and Konoha, the Hokage and Kazekage would have 'seats of honour' as Naruto dubbed them. After a few more jokes, the conversation turned to more serious matters.

"Dad, Hizashi's competing in the exam. What should we do if we have to face him?" Obito asked.

Naruto sighed thoughtfully. He and Hinata looked at each other, having a private conversation with their eyes.

"I think you should tell him the truth." Naruto said at last. "I know that Tenten hasn't told him anything, but if he starts talking about… you know, just do what you think is right."

Obito nodded.

"What about Hisa?" he asked with a grin.

Naruto grinned back.

"Let's hope she doesn't have to face him. If she does, try and explain to her why humiliating him in the exam is not the right thing to do."

"I'm right here, you know." Hisa grumbled as the others burst into laughter.

Once they had finished their ramen (Naruto claimed that Hinata's home-cooked ramen was _almost _as good as Ichiraku's. For some reason, Hinata seemed to take that as a massive compliment. Hisa never understood her father's obsession with the ramen stand.) Hisa and Obito went to sleep. It had been a long day, and both of them were starting training tomorrow for the exams. Hinata and the other byakugan experts were going to train Obito. Sai was going to train Oki. Hisa wasn't sure about Nawaki but she guessed that Konahamaru would offer to train him. All of them were determined to become chunin.

!

The next morning, Naruto woke Hisa up (loudly) and they set off towards training ground three.

"So you said you've been having problems with your toads?" Naruto asked.

Hisa sighed.

"Yes. I can't summon a normal toad! I can summon scroll toads, gourd toads, even tracker toads! But I can't summon a normal fire/oil spitting toad!"

Naruto frowned.

"What's a tracker toad?"

Hisa rolled her eyes.

"Never mind that, how can I summon a normal toad?"

Naruto thought about it for a minute.

"Well… when I was training with Jiraiya all I could summon were tadpoles. He used an… unusual method to help me. It was crazy, but it worked."

"I want to try it." Hisa said confidently.

"Are you sure? It's very dangerous and it might not work."

"I'll try anything." she sighed "I'm desperate to summon a toad that would be useful in battle."

Naruto still looked worried, but he gave in.

"Come on, we need to go somewhere high, preferably with a cliff nearby."

Hisa gulped. This didn't sound good.

Twenty minutes later they were in the forest surrounding Konoha. It didn't look very high to Hisa, and she couldn't see a cliff anywhere.

"Where are we?" she asked.

Naruto ignored her. He was too busy pacing up and down. He looked like he was having serious doubts about his plan.

"Hisa, do you trust me?" he asked.

Hisa raised an eyebrow.

"Well… not really, no. I don't trust you when you cook, or when you do laundry or when it comes to remembering my birthday. But I do trust you with my life, as does everyone else in the village."

Naruto smiled.

"That's good enough for me."

He took a step forward.

"Remember, don't tell your mother _anything_ about this. This stays between us."

Hisa nodded, although she was starting to get a little scared. Just what was he planning?

The next thing she knew, he had shoved her hard and she was crashing through the trees. The air was whipped out of her lungs as she flew through the branches. The trees flew by above her head, and she saw the sun flicker through them from time to time. She didn't know what he had done but that had been no ordinary push.

Suddenly, the branches stopped hitting her and she felt herself begin to fall. She relaxed, and waited to hit soft grass. Only, she didn't hit grass. She didn't hit anything.

She flipped around in the air and screamed. She was falling down a massive crevice, lined with rock spikes. There was no way she could grip the wall, and she couldn't see the bottom, which was not a good sign. She remembered that it was all part of the plan, so she quickly bit her thumb and yelled:

"Summoning Jutsu!"

There was a huge puff, far bigger than anything she had summoned before. Hisa crashed into something huge and wrinkly. She grinned in triumph. She had summoned Gamabunta! She sat up on what she presumed was the toad's back and looked around. She frowned. That was strange. Why was the toad brown? She thought Gamabunta was red? In fact, she'd never seen or heard of a brown toad, and why was this one so wrinkly?

"Fukasaku? Shima? Where did everyone go? I was just about to have my mid-morning snack! Say, where am I? Is this the bathroom?"

Hisa groaned. This toad was obviously missing a few marbles. It seemed to hear her groan, as it twisted its head to look at her.

"Why hello there, little girl! Are you Naruto? No wait, your Jiriaya aren't you? Oh wait, he died didn't he? Or was that Minato? So, are you?"

"Um…" Hisa didn't know how to answer. It was clear that this toad was very old, and also very senile. She was starting to get a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"My name's Hisa." she said. "I'm Naruto's daughter and I summoned you. Who are you?"

The toad frowned.

"That's a very good question Hina. Who am I? I'm not quite sure. Say, do you live here? It's not very comfy, but I'm afraid I'm stuck here. My legs aren't what they used to be. If you have any ink I could whip up a seal to get us out of here. That reminds me, what was your name again?"

"Hisa." she said, struggling to keep calm. "What's your name?"

"Name…name… I don't think I have one. I do remember my title though. I'm the Great Toad Sage! Wait, was it the Great Toad Sage or the Great Honourable Geezer? Ah, it was one of those."

Hisa swallowed nervously.

"You… wouldn't happen to be the toad that made that prophecy about Naruto and Jiriaya?"

"Naruto? Why yes I do remember seeing something about him. Or was it Nagato? He had eyes like yours, you know. They're very pretty eyes. You're Hida aren't you?"

"Hisa." Hisa whispered.

She was pretty sure she was going into shock. She had just summoned the Great Toad Sage! How was that even possible? She looked up towards the top of the crevice and saw Naruto standing there.

"Hisa? Are you down there? Please don't be dead! Oh Kami, I'm a terrible father! I killed my own daughter! Hinata's going to kill me! Then Sasuke will probably resurrect me just so he can kill me as well! And then Sai…"

"I'm alive!" she yelled up. "But I've got a problem."

"You're alive? Yes! I'm not a failure of a father! Oh wait, what's the problem?"

"I'm… sitting on the Great Toad Sage. You know, the one that made the prophecy about you being the saviour of this world."

"Oh," Naruto said. "That is a bit of a problem. Right, well I'll just summon Gamabunta and explain to him that his boss is stuck in the middle of a crevice. He'll understand, right?"

"Somehow, I don't think he will."

!

Naruto and Hinata were relaxing together. Hisa and Obito were in bed asleep and the two were catching up on their day.

"How did Obito's training go?" Naruto asked

Hinata smiled happily.

"He's doing great. He can do four rotations in a row and still have enough chakra left. I think he'll do fine in the exam. What about Hisa."

Naruto grimaced.

"She's not doing so well. We've agreed to find something else for her to learn. Toads aren't really her thing, she's a bit too dangerous."

"How so?" Hinata asked.

Naruto grinned.

"She summoned the Great Toad Sage to stop her from dying. I summoned Gamabunta and he was all flustered because the Geezer had just disappeared without a trace. Luckily we managed to rescue both of them without any injuries."

"Naruto?" Hinata asked in a deceivingly quiet voice. "Why did Hisa need to summon something to stop her from _dying?_"

"Eh…" he gulped when he saw his wife's glare. "I need to go to the little Hokage's room. Bye!"

He shot out the door faster than the Yellow Flash himself.


	20. Chapter 20

"One more bowl please Ayame!"

"Coming right up!"

Nawaki loved the ramen stand. He literally _loved _it. It was the place to go if he wanted to meet with his teammates, or if he wanted a cheap-but-delicious meal. Seeing as he lived alone, the Hokage gave him monthly living expenses. It wasn't much, but it was enough. To save money, Nawaki ate at the ramen stand as much as possible. He mostly ate with Oki, Konahamaru joined them occasionally. Hisa never joined them, but Oki had explained that she was always busy training, plus her father made her eat enough ramen at home.

Nawaki was currently eating his fourth bowl of ramen. Three days stranded in a minefield helped you get a healthy appetite. Oki was sitting next to him, slurping down her own noodles.

"So what's your plan for the finals?" she asked.

"I'm not sure." he replied. "I'm guessing that Sai will train you, and Ino will train your sister?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, it makes sense that way. Ino can teach Inori all the clan techniques. But what about you? Do you want me to ask Sai to teach you as well?"

He shook his head.

"Thanks, but nah. I'll find someone. Maybe there's a pervy sage lurking at the hot springs!"

She laughed.

"That's not actually a bad idea. Konahamaru is a massive pervert. He could train you!"

"I agree with the training part, but why would you call me a massive pervert Oki? Actually, don't answer that."

Nawaki turned as Konahamaru entered the stand. He sat down next to them and ordered a bowl of miso ramen.

"So Nawaki, you're the only one of my students without a teacher for the exams. I'm not that busy most days so… what do you say?"

Nawaki grinned.

"Are you really offering to train me? I'd love to!"

Konahamaru grinned evily.

"Alright then, first rule: No ramen. It's not healthy to eat that much."

He reached over and snatched Nawaki's bowl, slurping down the last remains.

"Hey! Why do you get to have ramen?" Nawaki demanded.

"Nawaki, I'm the Third Hokage's grandson, the future Hokage, the best jonin in the village and the master of disguises. Do you really want to question me?"

"You forgot master of the sexy jutsu, Kakashi Hatake's Icha Icha fanclub leader, the first male shinobi to take a bath in the women's hot springs and master of the threesomes. At least, that's what you told Dad. Remember when you told him about Hanabi and Moegi…"

"That's enough Oki!" Konahamaru yelled. Ayame was giving him the stink eye. He glared at Oki, he was pretty sure she had just lost him his favourite ramen restaurant. He grabbed Nawaki.

"Let's go kid. I need to get out of here before Ayame strangles me. Oki, you and I are going to have a talk about conversations you shouldn't eavesdrop on!"

Oki just grinned and waved goodbye to Nawaki as he was dragged from the shop. Nawaki couldn't help asking…

"Master of Threesomes?"

"It's a long story. A story that I can't tell you since it doesn't come with a PG version."

Nawaki shuddered and wisely decided to change the subject.

"So, what will you be teaching me?"

Konahamaru frowned.

"I'm not sure. What are you good at?"

"You've been my sensei for at least three months and you still don't know what I can do?"

Konahamaru shrugged.

"You can do Fire Style right? That's all I know. I haven't had time to study you're training. I've been busy."

"Busy at the hot springs."

"I refuse to comment. All I will say is that you have to stop listening to Oki so much."

"But she's right."

"Maybe so, but still! She knows too much!"

"How is that a bad thing?"

"I just got kicked out of Ichiraku's. That qualifies as a very, _very _bad thing!"

"Point taken."

They walked together for a few minutes until Konahamaru came to a stop. Nawaki looked around, there was nothing to see but miles and miles of rock and sand. How far had they walked?

"This is one of my favourite training spots." Konahamaru explained "It's close to the village, in case of an emergency, but it's also for enough away that no one should get hurt."

"That's great, but you still haven't told me what we're doing."

"That's because I'm making it up as I go along! Anyways, I know you can do a fireball and the phoenix flower jutsu. Are there any other fire techniques you can do?"

Nawaki nodded, trying to remain calm. He had been longing to show off this jutsu. He hadn't been able to show a lot of his skills, as most of his training with his mother revolved around his sharingan. Other than that, Nawaki was good with weapons, relatively good at hand-to-hand fighting and very good at Fire Style jutsus. He had spent two years working on this technique.

He reached into his pocket and grabbed some shuriken. Konahamaru was staring strangely at him, probably wondering what shuriken had to do with a Fire Style technique. Nawaki ignored him and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, and imagined his fire-infused chakra flowing through his body. When he had built up enough chakra, he threw the shuriken with his left hand, and exhaled the chakra with his right. The shuriken caught on fire at once, and they flew through the air, before burning straight through a boulder.

Nawaki grinned in triumph. He looked at Konahamaru, who looked absolutely gobsmacked.

"Nawaki, where did you learn that technique?" he whispered.

Nawaki realised that he had overdone it. He pretended to look confused.

"The wandering shinobi helped me learn it. I was the only person to master all his Fire Style techniques, so he gave me the task of creating my own. I'm good with shuriken and kunai, so I decided to use them."

Konahamaru seemed to buy his explanation. He stood there for a minute, thinking hard.

"It seems that both your shuriken throwing and Fire Style jutsu are extremely advanced. You don't need my help with any of that."

Nawaki started to panic. That hadn't been his intention when he showed Konahamaru his jutsu! He needed training to get stronger for the exams. He stopped panicking when he realised Konahamaru was handing him something.

"This is litmus paper." Konahamaru explained "It shows you what your chakra nature is. Did this wandering shinobi teach you about chakra nature?"

Nawaki nodded.

"He told me I had a Fire Style nature type because I could do fireballs."

"That's true." Konahamaru said. "But Fire Style isn't necessarily your only nature type. Hold the paper like this and send your chakra into it."

Nawaki put the paper between his ring finger and middle finger. He sent his chakra into it but this time, he didn't focus on making it fiery. He just let it flow. He closed his eyes and pushed it out onto the paper.

His eyes shot open in surprise when he felt the paper grow wet. He quickly tried to shake the water off, but it stuck to the paper. In the end, he just tossed the paper away.

"It seems you have a Water Style nature type. I'm not a Water Style user myself, but I know someone who is. Tomorrow, I'll get him to teach you some jutsu. As for today… here, this is the Third Hokage's seeing ball. Play with it."

With that, Konahamaru disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Nawaki reached down and picked up the small crystal orb. Was this really the Third Hokage's? It made sense, seeing as Konahamaru was his grandson. Nawaki wondered how it worked.

He picked it up and focused. _Sakura Haruno. Sakura Haruno._

Nothing happened.

Nawaki tried again. _Oki Yamanaka. Oki Yamanaka. Ino Yamanaka. Naruto Uzumaki. Hisa Uzumaki. Konahamaru Sarutobi. Sasuke Uchiha!_

Nawaki gasped as the orb swirled, and he was looking at the inside of the Uchiha police station. There were people swarming around, and Nawaki wasn't sure which one was his father. The image was murky, but although Nawaki couldn't see them very clearly, he could feel their chakra.

He watched the police station for a few minutes, before he lost interest and removed his chakra from the ball. He would try again some other time.

He drew some targets on some boulders, and practised his weapon throwing, before heading home. He hadn't managed to do much today, but he was confident that tomorrow would be better. He would be getting a new sensei to teach him Water Style! He began wondering who it might be. Izumo from the guard house was a fairly skilled water user, but Kotetsu would get jealous if Izumo was asked and he wasn't.

Nawaki thought about it some more, but no one he could think of was a good Water Style user. He put the matter to one side and focused on the village around him. It was getting close to dinnertime, and all around him, families were heading home. He felt a small pang in his heart when he thought of his empty apartment. He would spend the afternoon eating takeaway and then he would just go asleep.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice someone calling his name.

"Nawaki! Hey, Nawaki!"

He turned as someone walked straight up to him. A smile appeared on his face.

"Oki? What are you doing here? Is your training finished?"

She grinned at him.

"Yep, Dad and I were just heading home for dinner when we saw you. Do you want to eat dinner with us?"

"I couldn't possibly…" Nawaki stammered.

Oki's grin widened.

"Of course you can! Dad said it was fine and that Mom wouldn't mind. My sister's at her teammate's house so we have an extra portion. Dad mentioned something about your mother killing him if he doesn't make you eat your vegetables. I don't get that, Dad doesn't even know your mother!"

Nawaki smiled.

"In that case, I'd love to!"

The two friends set off together, talking and laughing as they went.

!

The next morning, Nawaki was waiting impatiently to meet his new teacher. Konahamaru had told him to be at the bridge next to the hospital at seven o'clock. It was now ten, and there was still no sign.

He sighed. His legs were growing numb, and the day was so hot, he was falling asleep. He had a feeling Konahamaru had just forgotten to find someone. He was probably off somewhere with Hanabi and Moegi. Nawaki shuddered. Scary thoughts.

Suddenly, he felt a shadow fall over him. He looked up to see a man standing on the railing.

"Sorry I'm late, I'm afraid I got lost on the path of life."

Nawaki froze. He jumped backwards and stared at the man. It couldn't be him. He should be retired by now. It just couldn't be him.

Nawaki looked at the man. Mask: check. Silver, gravity-defying hair: check. Horrible excuse: check. Konoha flak jacket: check. One eye covered: check.

The man smiled down at him, or at least, it looked like he was smiling.

"You must be Nawaki. My name is Kakashi Hatake. I'll be training you for the Chunin Exams."


	21. Chapter 21

Hisa's training was not going well at all. Naruto had told her gently that it was best if she didn't try and summon anymore toads. He didn't want her almost killing the Great Toad Sage again. That left Hisa practising her push and pull. But there was only so much she could do before she had it mastered. The next step was to try and do a Planetary Devistation, but Naruto had banned her from trying that. To keep her occupied, he had hired a bunch of his friends to train her. None of them succeeded.

Sai tried to teach her how to draw ink birds. They both went home soaked in ink, and after that Sai always had an excuse for Naruto.

Shikamaru played shogi with her. After three games, she drew with him, and he declared their training over. He spent the rest of the time sleeping until Temari found him.

Choji tried to teach her the value of food, but she ate too much and threw up. Besides, her mother's home cooking was the only food she truly enjoyed. Choji had nothing else to teach her.

Hinata was helping Obito, and Kiba was training Kawa. Hisa did have a training session with him, but Akamaru peed on her leg. She was convinced that Kawa had bribed him to do that.

Shino had agreed to train her. They spent the whole time in a staring contest, until Shino declared that he had nothing that would be useful to her.

Tenten had trained her for a week, but one day she came to the training ground in a bad mood. When Tenten got upset, she got more precise with her weapons, and less caring about fatalities. Hisa almost died five times before she convinced Tenten to give up training her.

Hisa and Naruto had both agreed that Lee was a definite no. Besides, he was busy training Lu.

Temari had given her some good training, but her job as Suna's ambassador kept her too busy.

Sasuke was busy running the police station, although he had helped her improve her speed. Kakashi was mysteriously absent, and Konahamaru claimed to be too busy training Nawaki. The strange thing was that every time he claimed to be busy, Hisa saw him at the hot springs an hour later.

So, with just two weeks left, Hisa and Naruto were once again standing in Training Ground Three. Hisa was staring at Naruto, and Naruto was staring at Hisa. After a few minutes, he sighed.

"Are you sure Hanabi can't teach you? You are her favourite."

"She tried to kill me last time. She pinned me with kunai, then flung one at my head."

"But she _missed._"

"It was an accidental miss. She actually looked disappointed when I survived."

"She wasn't disappointed that you were alive! She was just sad that you couldn't dodge well enough."

"She promised me that she wouldn't miss the next time!"

"That's just her way of psyching you out."

"Her words were. 'Next time I'll kill you.' I'm not training with her!"

Naruto sighed and put his hand on his forehead. He stood there for a few minutes, deep in thought.

"It's no good, I can't think of anything to teach you. We already tried the Rasengan and agreed that it wasn't suited to you. Maybe we can unlock another of your Paths?"

Hisa shook her head.

"I don't want to unlock anymore Paths until I become a chunin. Are you sure there's nothing you can teach me?"

"All the jutsu I specialize in are based around the Rasengan, or need the Kyubi. Or you need to be a Sage, or it's a frog summoning. You can't use any of the jutsu I use except for the Kage Bunshin and the basic ones like that."

Hisa thought about this.

"Are there any Uzumaki clan techniques you can teach me?"

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Not exactly. But I think I know a really powerful technique that I could try and teach you."

"Really? What is it?"

Naruto grinned and pulled out an oddly shaped kunai.

"The Fourth Hokage's Flying Raijin technique! Or, as I like to call it, Grandad Minato's Teleportation jutsu!"

Hisa gasped.

"Isn't that an S-Rank technique? Do you really think I can learn it?"

Naruto shrugged.

"In theory, it's possible for anyone to learn it. In reality, it's a lot harder."

He noticed Hisa's confused expression and explained.

"For starters, not many people know it because Mom and Dad kept her family's jutsu well hidden. They were masters at sealing jutsu, but Dad was the one who invented the technique. He kept it in a secret scroll in the Hokage's office. That's why very few people can do it. The other reason is a lot simpler: it's very hard and very dangerous."

"How?" Hisa asked.

"To do this technique, you write the special seal on these kunai. Then, you throw them. That's the easy part. To teleport, you have to fill up the seal with your chakra. The tricky part is not to use too much or too little chakra. You have to have brilliant chakra control to manage that. So, if your control is good enough, you can fill up the seal. The minute the seal is filled, you begin to teleport. The most difficult and important part is getting your chakra back into your body before you teleport. Once you fill the seal, you have to tug all your chakra out of the seal and into your body. If you don't do this before you teleport, it gets very messy."

Hisa tried to follow.

"So, if chakra was water and the seal was a glass, you have to fill the glass up to the brim with water, without spilling a drop. Then, you have to drink the water all in one gulp?"

"It's one lightning fast gulp but you seem to get the idea."

Hisa looked at him critically.

"Do you really think I have the chakra control and the reflexes to master this jutsu?"

"Well… no. But it's not impossible! Think of how amazing it would be if you mastered it for the exam, Naruko wouldn't stand a chance! I'd be able to laugh in Gaara's face and tell him 'my little girl is better than yours!'"

"No pressure then Father."

"What? No, none at all. I mean, it would be nice, but the chances of it happening are a thousand to one. So don't worry!"

"You're _really _not helping my confidence here."

"Just believe in yourself and never give up. Besides, you have an advantage, you're small. The smaller you are the easier it is to teleport!"

He ran away as fast as he could, before his daughter could murder him for the height jab.

Hisa sighed and fingered the special kunai. She supposed it was worth as shot. The one thing that worried her was the danger part that Naruto hadn't said much about. He had said that the jutsu was dangerous, and that if you didn't get everything right, it would get messy. But Hisa didn't know just how messy he meant.

She looked at the kunai. There was a piece of paper wrapped around them, but it was blank. Hisa growled when she realised Naruto had forgotten to teach her the formula. How was she supposed to teleport without the seal? She ran off to find her father.

Ten minutes later, and she still hadn't found him. She had checked her house, his office, the police station, Oki's house and the hot springs. Naruto was nowhere to be found. She sighed in frustration and sat down on the ground. She had been skipping dinner to train, and she missed Hinata's cooking. She decided to go to Ichiraku's as it was the next best thing.

She could have kicked herself when she walked in and there was her father, slurping down his tenth bowl of ramen. How had she ignored his favourite place? She sat down next to him and ordered some miso ramen. He noticed her, and glanced quizzically at her.

"Hey Hisa, I thought you'd be training. What's up?"

She shrugged.

"I would be training, if _someone _had taught me the seal!"

She showed him the blank kunai. He examined it for a minute, before grinning sheepishly at her.

"Eh, sorry about that. I thought they came with the seals on them. Come on, pay for our ramen and I'll teach you!"

She stared at him.

"You want me to pay for _your _ramen?"

"I'll take that as a yes?"

"You can take that as a no, _daddy._ You're the Hokage, surely you can treat your daughter to some ramen."

He snorted.

"Yes, because Tsunade and Jiriaya _always _paid for me. I'll pay for myself but I'm not paying for you."

"I love you too." Hisa muttered.

!

It took Hisa two hours to learn the seal. It was incredibly complex, and Naruto refused to let her use any that weren't drawn perfectly. Each kunai took her ten minutes to draw on average. In the end, she had a dozen kunai ready to use, and the seal mostly memorized.

"Are you sure about this?" Naruto asked. "If it goes wrong you could be split in two at worst."

She glared at him.

"Thank you for telling me about this _earlier. _I've come too far now to give up."

Naruto had an expression between a proud grin and a tearful sob. He pulled Hisa into a hug.

"Even if it doesn't work, I am very proud of you." he whispered.

Hisa was stunned.

"Thanks." she whispered back.

She made her way down to the training ground. Naruto had reluctantly left her to go back to his office. He had a ton of paperwork waiting on his desk.

She threw a kunai out in front of her. It landed in the grass a few metres away. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She focused on her chakra. Most of her pathways were flowing in their usual pattern. But she could feel some of her chakra flowing along a foreign route. She reached out, and her chakra made contact with the kunai. She slowly began pouring her chakra into the seal, filling it up like Naruto had instructed her.

Seals were usually a lot easier. Exploding tags required a tiny amount of chakra, and didn't need any controlling. But this was a complex and advanced seal, and it was Hisa's first time. She needed to do it slowly.

Her chakra finished filling the seal and the seal activated. Hisa felt herself slowly begin to disappear. But she remembered what Naruto had said, and quickly pulled her chakra out of the seal.

Everything was a blur after that. She felt her feet lift from the ground, then they dropped back on the ground with a thump. Some of her chakra pathways weren't responding, and some felt like they were on fire. Once she realised that she wasn't dying, she looked around.

She had managed to make it halfway. The kunai was closer now, but she hadn't managed to teleport. Still, she felt proud of managing _something. _It wasn't bad for her first attempt, now she just had to figure out where she had gone wrong.

She gently reached out, and tried to feel her chakra. The pathways that weren't responding had closed up completely; Hisa wasn't able to feel anything. But unfortunately, she could feel the ones that hurt very, very well. She eased her chakra along the paths that hurt, until she found the one that hurt the most. It was the one that had had the biggest connection with the kunai.

She followed the route until she felt her chakra go into the kunai. Instantly, she understood what had gone wrong. She hadn't managed to get all of her chakra out of the kunai before she teleported, and the strain had ripped some of her chakra pathways. She winced as she tried to move her right hand, it hurt almost as much as a broken bone.

Still, even in her pain, she couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face.

She had two weeks to master the technique. The Chunin Exams wouldn't know what hit them.

!

Naruto was in his office when Konahamaru walked in. He handed Naruto some more paperwork with a sympathetic smile.

"You look exhausted, do you want to come to the hot springs with me?"

Naruto shook his head blearily.

"No thanks. Wait, I thought you were training Nawaki?"

Konahamaru grinned.

"I convinced Kakashi to do it for me. He's been training Nawaki since last Tuesday"

Naruto gasped. He stood up and glared at Konahamaru.

"I was going to ask Kakashi to train Hisa! You stole Kakashi from me!"

"I didn't steal Kakashi, I _borrowed _him."

"You didn't ask me if you could take him! That means you STOLE him!"

"Did not!"

"Did to!"

"BOYS!"

Both men turned to look at Hinata, who was standing in the doorway glaring at them.

"You're both so loud I can hear you from the police station. Sasuke's threatened to kill both of you if you don't shut up and let him focus on his work."

"Huh!" Naruto turned his back on his wife. "He has no right to demand our silence! I'm simply staking my claim on Kakashi before Konahamaru starts thinking Kakashi belongs to him!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Hinata warned. "If Anko or Iruka hear you 'claiming' Kakashi, you know the results won't be pretty. Don't you remember what happened last time? That ANBU had to stay in the hospital for three months."

Both men turned pale as they remembered the female ANBU who had made the mistake of flirting with Kakashi. Naruto always knew Anko was insane, but Iruka had surprised him! He shuddered and turned back to Konahamaru.

"I'll let it slide this time." he said "But get out of my office!"

Konahamaru disappeared in a puff. Naruto smirked and turned to Hinata. The smirk slid off his face when he saw Hinata's glare.

"Eh… sorry about making so much noise?"

Hinata smirked.

"I'll let it slide this time." she said. "But get out of my office!"

Naruto was halfway out the building before it hit him.

"HEY HINATA. THAT'S _MY _OFFICE, NOT YOURS!"


	22. Chapter 22

It was here. The Chunin Exam finals were finally here.

And Nawaki was terrified.

His parents would be watching him fight. One would watch, knowing that he was her son. The other would watch simply because it was his job. He wouldn't have a clue that it was his son that he was watching. In fact, Sasuke would probably be more interested in watching Hisa.

That hurt Nawaki a bit.

He was proud of his training with Kakashi, even though a small part of him had been screaming _Run! Run before he realises who you are! He's Kakashi Hatake!_ Nawaki had ignored it. Kakashi was a brilliant teacher if you ignored that he was lazy and had no sense of punctuality. He had taught Nawaki how to make a water clone and he had also taught him a useful water style ninjutsu. His taijutsu had improved, as had his shurikenjutsu. He had managed to avoid genjutsu by distracting Kakashi with questions about the new Icha Icha series. He had learnt how to use his sharingan for genjutsu before coming to Konoha, but seeing how he couldn't use his sharingan in the exam, genjutsu was useless.

Nawaki didn't remember much of his morning. He got dressed and ate his breakfast in a trance, letting his body work on autopilot. His mind seemed hazy, and he felt like he was having an out of body experience. He made his way to the stadium in a trance, obvious to the excited chattering around him. It seemed like every single person in Konoha was coming to watch the exams. Everyone was saying how this would be the most exciting exam since the one where Orochimaru invaded. Most people hoped that the excitement of this exam would be because of the genin, not because there was a giant snake crushing their village.

Nawaki heard vague snippets of conversation. The betting was going into overdrive. The three children of the Kazekage would be competing with the two children of the Hokage. Most people knew about Obito's Byakugan and Hisa's Rinnegan, but there were a lot of rumours circling about the Kazekage's youngest child. Apparently, she had a very powerful kekkei genkai.

Nawaki reached the stadium, still feeling foggy. He was snapped out of his stupor when he saw Kakashi standing there. The masked ninja walked up to Nawaki, his mask crinkled in what Nawaki could now identify as a smile.

"Good luck today." Kakashi said cheerfully "I thought I should tell you, no matter if you win or lose, you're one of the brightest genin I ever taught."

Nawaki's eyes widened.

"Tha-Thank you. It was a huge honour to be trained by you."

Kakashi's smile got wider. After a month of training, Nawaki could read Kakashi's 'mask-expressions' very well. Right now, his face was saying 'I'm about to make you question how much I know about you'. (Or something like that. Nawaki could be reading him wrong and he could be saying 'I really want some miso soup right now.')

Sure enough Kakashi turned and walked away, throwing some parting words over his shoulder.

"I also know that no matter if you win or lose, your mother will be very proud of you. Oh, and, I'll do my best to get Sasuke to watch your match."

With that, he disappeared, leaving Nawaki close to hyperventilating. Just how many people knew about him? How had Kakashi found out? Did he really know, or was it just a guess?

Oki and Hisa appeared then. Oki looked cheerful, and a little bit nervous. Nawaki couldn't tell how Hisa was feeling, but her eyes looked cold enough to murder the entire stadium.

"Are you ready to go Nawaki?" Oki asked.

He shook his head, trying to ease his panic.

"What? Oh, yeah, let's do this."

Oki nodded, then reached out and took his hand. Her other hand reached out and grabbed Hisa's hand. Together, the three of them walked into the stadium.

The roar of the crowd was deafening. Even though the matches hadn't started yet, a good ¾ of the stadium was filled. Nawaki recognized the different shinobi. Most were from Konoha and Suna, as they were the villages with finalists. But there were still some shinobi from Iwa and Kumo, and even a few from Kiri. For a second, Nawaki thought he saw Suigetsu talking to Konahamaru, but he was distracted when he saw the shinobi wearing the Uchiha crest.

The police were here to guard against attacks like Orochimaru's invasion. Ever since Sasuke got the police station up and running again, the amount of attacks on Konoha had decreased. Nawaki looked at them now, wondering which one of them was his father. He guessed that Sasuke would be guarding the two Kage, Naruto and Gaara. Nawaki wondered what the Kage were doing, probably discussing things like trade and the economy between the two villages.

!

"No Gaara, you don't get it. The Third Hokage was called the 'God of Shinobi' the Third Kazekage wouldn't stand a chance against him."

"I'm not discussing this anymore Naruto. But I strongly believe that the Kazekages could hold their own against the Hokages. Can we please get on with announcing the matches?"

"Heh, are you that eager to watch my kids hammer yours? Besides, the Hokages were ten times stronger than the Kazekages"

"Dobe, stop annoying Gaara. The crowd is getting impatient."

Naruto turned and glared at his best friend. Sasuke was standing next to him, sharingan activated and scanning the crowd. Sasuke was determined that no one would touch Naruto or Gaara.

"Well then teme, if you think you're so smart, tell me who would win!"

Sasuke turned and gave him the Uchiha glare.

"Hn. Neither the Hokages or the Kazekages would stand a chance if the Uchiha were there in full power."

"Oh yeah? The Hokage's would always win because the Uchiha are EVIL!"

"Hn. I thought we were over this 'evil' stuff."

"We are. I'm just pointing it out."

Gaara's eye twitched slightly. Oh how he longed for some coffee. Sasuke noticed his twitching. He signalled to Shikamaru to start the matches before Gaara went all Shukaku on Naruto.

Shikamaru walked into the centre of the stadium.

"The Chunin Exams shall begin now." he said "The computer over there will decide who fights who. The first match will now begin."

After saying his piece, he made his way over to where Temari was standing with a smirk on her face.

"You look sad about something." she said.

He sighed.

"You know you're getting old when you're student is your son's sensei."

Temari rolled her eyes.

"That's what's wrong? Stop being such a crybaby just because you're past your prime."

He smirked.

"You can't talk. You're older than me."

She scowled.

"Stupid genius with your stupid logic." she muttered.

He gave her a lazy smirk, which she returned.

"You reckon Shikai has it in him to win?"

"He's our kid Shikamaru. He can make it to at least the semi-finals. Heck, if it were pure strategy you know he would wipe the floor with them."

He smirked again, before kissing her.

!

Nawaki nervously watched the computer as the names whirled round. He was in a special section with the other competitors. The twelve Konoha genin were together, while Naruko and her siblings had their own section.

Nawaki watched all of the genin, analysing them. Obito looked cheerful and confident, but he kept glancing at Hisa and Hizashi. Kawa Inuzuka just looked excited for the fight. Toruko Aburame stood silent. The top half of her face was hidden under a mask, and her eyes were hidden by goggles. The bottom half of her face was visible, and she was smiling slightly. Inori looked excited, but she kept glancing at Oki. Nawaki wondered if there were problems in the family. Shikai just looked bored, and Chouko was glancing nervously at both Oki and Inori, as if he knew there was going to be a problem. Hizashi looked the same as Hisa: cold and unreadable. Ning looked nervous, yet determined and Lu… well Lu was horrifying.

Lee had finally gotten to the poor boy. He was dressed in a green spandex one piece, and his hair was in a bowl cut. The most disgusting part was that he actually looked _happy _about being dressed like that. He had tried to talk to Nawaki and his team, but when he had come over; Hisa had used her Almighty Push to push him away. Nawaki had looked at her quizzically, but she had just shrugged.

"He creeps me out." she explained "And he has this weird obsession with Oki and me since we saved his life once on a field trip."

Nawaki had left it at that. For once, he trusted Hisa's judgement.

He watched as Shikamaru announced the start of the Exam, and then the computer had started flicking through the names. Nawaki held his breath as the first match was announced.

**Toruko Aburame vs Yashamaru.**

Nawaki watched as the two competitors made their way onto the field. Yashamaru was wearing a confident sneer, while Toruko was calm and kept her emotions to herself.

Shikamaru listed the rules, and then stepped back. The two opponents circled each other, sizing each other up.

"You're out of luck." Yashamaru stated. "My sensei fought Shino Aburame during his own Chunin Exams. I know just how you fight, so good luck trying to trick me with your bugs."

Toruko said nothing and kept her face unreadable. This angered Yashamaru. He grabbed the top scroll off his back and unfurled it. A rain of kunai and shuriken went straight towards Toruko. She dodged them, letting them fall harmlessly onto the ground. Suddenly, Yashamaru appeared behind her and kicked her in the back. She flew across the field before crashing onto the ground. Yashamaru sneered at her.

"I'll make this quick." he smirked.

His hand started shimmering, and Nawaki realised he had coated it with wind chakra. He ran straight towards Toruko his hand aimed straight for her heart. At the last possible second, she dodged. Her hand bumped into his for a second, but then she jumped back. Yashamaru's hand went straight into the earth, carving it in two.

Obito whistled lowly.

"That was close." he muttered. "He was aiming for her heart. These Suna genin don't mess around."

Down on the field, Yashamaru had charged his hand up again. He smirked at Toruko, who was on the other side of the field.

"Where are your bugs?" he sneered "You haven't used them at all, probably because you can't. I know that the Aburame clans' weakness is their taijutsu. Am I right?"

For a second, Toruko tensed, but then she relaxed. She stood up from her crouch and dusted herself off, before walking towards Yashamaru.

Yashamaru frowned, caught off guard by her casual approach.

"Answer me!" he snapped. "You're weakness is taijutsu, admit it!"

Toruko continued to walk towards him.

He snarled and made to run towards her. To everyone's surprise, he didn't move. He tried again, fear evident in his eyes. Nawaki was confused. It was obvious that Toruko had managed to paralyse him, but how had she done it?

Toruko was now standing directly in front of Yashamaru. His chakra covered hand was just inches away from her, but it couldn't touch her. Nawaki could see the sweat pouring down Yashamaru, he was desperately trying to escape the paralyses.

"How?" he whispered. "How did you do it? Aburame bugs can't do this…"

Slowly and calmly, Toruko began to speak.

"Your first mistake was assuming that you knew everything about me. Although I am an Aburame, I do not use the standard bugs. I use nano-sized, venomous insects. These bugs allow me to paralyse my enemies simply by touching them."

Toruko reached out and pulled Yashamaru's sleeve up. Nawaki gasped. Yashamaru's skin was covered in what looked like purple blotches. Nawaki realized that they were the insects Toruko had been talking about.

Toruko calmly reached behind her back and grabbed the tanto she had strapped there. Nawaki saw the proctors signal each other. The match was clearly over, was Toruko going to kill Yashamaru anyway?

She unsheathed her sword and brought it gently to rest on Yashamaru's neck, right over his jugular. Yashamaru tensed, expecting her to deliver the finishing blow. Instead, she tapped his neck lightly.

"I believe this means that I win." she said calmly.

Shikamaru hurried onto the field.

"The winner of the first match is Toruko Aburame." he announced.

The stadium burst into cheers. Nawaki noticed that Karura and their sensei which Nawaki assumed was Kankuro looked disappointed. Naruko stared coldly off into the distance, like she hadn't seen the match at all. Nawaki couldn't help shivering, that kid was seriously creepy. Nawaki would rather face Hisa than her.

Toruko made her way back up to the contestant's area. Nawaki congratulated her along with everyone else. But his eyes were focused on the computer screen. He had an uneasy feeling in his gut, and his mother had always told him to trust his sixth sense. The next match wouldn't end as simply as the first one had.

The computer screen blurred again, and the entire stadium kept their eyes on it. You could have heard a pin drop. Finally, two names appeared on the screen.

**Oki Yamanaka vs Inori Yamanaka**

Oki's face went white, like all the blood had rushed out of it. Nawaki saw her hands begin to shake. He looked around him, wondering why she was so scared. Hisa and Obito shared a worried glance, and Nawaki knew there was something big going on here. This didn't seem like standard sibling rivalry. Inori looked smug, and there was a slightly cruel look in her eyes. Chouko was glancing between her and Oki, looking very worried. Nawaki watched as Obito and Hisa whispered for a few seconds, before Obito made his way over to Toruko.

"Toruko," he murmured quietly "I normally wouldn't ask you to do this, but could you please…" He pointed at Yashamaru, who was still paralysed on the field. She nodded and made a hand seal.

A sharp cry rang out from the field. Nawaki watched as Yashamaru crumpled to the ground. Three medics rushed onto the field with a stretcher, and began to fuss over him. One of them whispered in Shikamaru's ear. He nodded reluctantly, before turning to the crowd.

"There will be a short break while we investigate Yashamaru's health." he drawled. "In the meantime, feel free to go to the toilet or get some dango."

He walked off the field again. Nawaki looked at Obito, who was staring down guiltily at Yashamaru.

"He's not dead is he?" Nawaki asked.

Obito looked horrified.

"Kami no, he's nowhere near dead. I'd never ask Toruko to do that to an innocent genin. She'd never do it if I asked."

Nawaki nodded. With that worry out of the way, he turned his attention to Oki. She appeared to be having a small meltdown. She was sitting against the wall, gasping. Hisa was next to her, trying to reassure her. Inori's team had disappeared, along with the rest of the genin. Obito gave one last worried look at Oki, before leaving himself. He looked at Nawaki as if to say _Stay here._ Nawaki nodded and made his way over to Oki. He wondered what the Kage were doing. Did they think Toruko was good enough to be a chunin? Were they discussing her performance?

!

Naruto grinned over at the Kazekage.

"Hah! Toruko won! You owe me money Gaara."

Gaara sighed and handed over the money. Naruto grinned and put it in his pocket.

"Thanks to you, I can open a new ramen stand. Why did you bet on Yashamaru? You told me that Toruko was going to win."

Gaara stared down at the field.

"Yashamaru is my son. While I would give my life for the village, I would also give my life for my family. Family means something to me."

"Hm. I suppose it would since, you know, you're dad tried to kill you and scarred you for life."

Gaara opened his mouth to reply, but Sasuke got there first.

"You can't talk dobe. Your parents sealed a demon into you that scarred you for life."

Naruto glared at him.

"You're in the same boat Sasuke. Itachi scarred you for life and made you hate him because 'he loved you.'"

Naruto's eyes widened as he realised his mistake. Sasuke glared down at him.

"Itachi was a hero Naruto! Don't you remember what he did during the war? If it wasn't for him you would be dead..."

Naruto leaned over to Gaara.

"Get comfy." he whispered "Sasuke's rant usually takes twenty minutes."

Gaara continued to stare at the field. He never thought that being a Kage would be like this.

"… and fine, he messed me up a little. But he did love me! He did it to save me! Itachi saved this village…"

!

Oki had finally calmed down. She wasn't freaking out, but her eyes were empty. Hisa and Nawaki watched her in concern.

"I could push her down the stairs." Hisa said seriously "One Almighy Push and she'd be in the hospital. No one could prove anything."

Oki smiled up at Hisa.

"Thanks, but I'll pass on that idea. I have to face her, there's no other way."

Her face screwed up. Nawaki read her emotions as they appeared on her face. Anger. Fear. Embarrassment. Desperation.

Nawaki couldn't hold it in any longer. What the hell was wrong?

"Oki," he asked "Why are you so against fighting Inori? I know she's your sister, but you don't have to be so scared of her."

Hisa stood up and glared at him, as if to say _Not now, idiot._ But Oki grabbed her hand and pulled her back down.

"Its fine." she muttered "I've nothing better to do except wait for the match."

She patted the space on the ground beside her.

"Sit down and get comfy Nawaki." she said sarcastically. "I'll tell you the story of my messed up family."


	23. Chapter 23

Once Nawaki had sat down, Oki began to talk.

"The story begins fifteen years ago, when the war was on. My mom, Ino, was fighting in the war. Both she and her teammate Shikamaru lost their fathers, and the two of them grew closer because of that. By the end of the war, Ino had fallen in love with Shikamaru."

Whatever Nawaki had expected, it wasn't this. He listened quietly as Oki continued.

"Things returned to normal after the war. Naruto was named the next Hokage, and Konoha entered a time of peace. During this time, Ino continued to work with her teammates, Shikamaru and Choji. Choji was the only one who knew about her feelings for Shikamaru. He kept her secret hidden, and supported her as best he could. When Ino was eighteen, she told Shikamaru how she felt about him."

Her face grew slightly bitter.

"Being the amazing genius, Shikamaru had known about her feelings for a while. Unfortunately, he didn't feel the same way. He let her down as gently as possible, explaining that he was already in a relationship with Temari, but he hoped they could still be friends."

Nawaki winced. Being rejected must have hurt.

"Ino was distraught. She felt ugly, and she needed convincing that she was still desirable. She asked Sai out."

Her face twisted angrily.

"He rejected her. Bluntly. So she went crying to Choji, and he comforted her. I'm not quite sure what happened next, but apparently, Choji kissed her and explained that he himself was in love with her."

Nawaki let out a small gasp at that. This seemed more like a romantic novel then a life story.

"It took Ino a while to understand how deeply Choji felt for her, but when she did, she found that she loved him too. He wasn't like Shikamaru, the hero who could save everyone, or like Sai, the good looking jerk, but he was sweet and kind and good to Ino. He had known her since they were children, and now that her feelings for Shikamaru would never happen, Ino accepted his love. They got married a year later."

Nawaki had a bad feeling about what she was going to say next. He had been keeping track of the dates, and Inori would have been born soon after the marriage.

"A few months later, Ino had twins, a boy and a girl. It was agreed that the girl would become the head of the Yamanaka clan, while the boy…"

"Chouko." Nawaki whispered.

Oki nodded.

"Yep, Chouko and Inori are brother and sister."

"How did…"

"How do Sai and I fit into this? Well that's the sad part of the story. We're part of the unhappy ending."

"That's not true!" Hisa snarled. "Tell the story properly Oki. You and Sai aren't the bad guys."

Oki sighed.

"Fine, it was around eight years ago. Choji and Ino had been married for, hm… around five years. Sadly, neither of them were happy. Choji irritated Ino in many ways, and she yelled at him a lot. At first he put up with it, because that's what he had always done when they were children. But after five years, they were both sick of it. They had a huge argument, and in the end, they agreed to separate. Choji took Chouko and moved out, leaving Ino and Inori to fend for themselves."

Oki looked angrier than Nawaki had ever seen her. He waited quietly for her to finish her tale.

"Ino didn't take it too well. She spent most of her time moping around the house and rarely left. Inori wasn't much better, but she went to the Academy every day, and she got to see Chouko and Choji. To be honest, mom was depressed. If it wasn't for Sakura, I don't think she'd be alive now."

Nawaki hid his shock. What did his mother have to do with this?

"Sakura? As in Sakura Haruno?"

Oki nodded.

"She was my mother's best friend. She hadn't left the village yet, and she was worried about Ino. She started coming to visit her every day."

A small smile curled around Oki's lips.

"She forced Sai along with her. She was trying to help him 'understand people better'. She insisted that his main problem was with girls, so she told him to study Ino. To be honest, most of Sai's friends thought he was gay. I'm pretty sure this was Sakura's way of finding out."

Nawaki was getting more and more surprised at the story. His mother had never told him any of this.

"So Sai come along, and he studied Ino. Sakura came almost every day, to try and snap Ino out of her funk. But nothing worked. Sai didn't do much; he just stayed in the background and watched. He studied Ino and Sakura, and learnt about 'how the female mind operates'"

Oki's smile turned into a full-blown grin.

"It took a year of studying, but Sai finally realised that he liked what he saw. He found himself falling in love with Ino. Eventually, he asked her out. Being Sai, it was very awkward, but Ino accepted. She had always had a small crush on Sai. A little while later, they got married and I was born."

Nawaki was confused.

"What does this have to do with Inori scaring you?"

Hisa glared at him again, as if to say: _Don't push her, idiot. _Nawaki ignored her, focusing on Oki.

"Inori didn't like the fact that Ino got married again. She hates Sai, and when I was born she hated me as well. She did her best to make my life miserable, and she still does. Dad tries his best with her. He never gives out to her, even when she insults him to his face. But she never insults me in front of anyone, only when were alone."

Oki was shaking again, and there were unshed tears glistening in her eyes. Nawaki felt a surge of anger towards Inori, she had no right to treat Oki like this.

"Why don't Sai and Ino do anything?" he hissed.

Oki glared angrily at him.

"What can they do? Ask her to stop being better than me? I can't stop her hitting me, or insulting me or doing anything to me! She's better than me at everything, and I've accepted that."

"No she's not!" Nawaki and Hisa yelled at the same time.

"She is." Oki muttered "She beats me every time we spar, she graduated top of the class at the Academy and she's the heir to one of Konoha's most powerful clans. And even if I somehow became better than her at all of these things, she still has her torture jutsu. When she tells me she's better than me, she means it."

Nawaki had never seen Oki so dejected. Hisa was glaring angrily, as if she wanted to hit something. Nawaki guessed that Hisa had tried to help Oki with her inferiority complex before. It obviously hadn't worked. Nawaki kneeled over until he was staring straight into Oki's eyes.

"Listen to me." he said gently "You are just as good as Inori. You're almost half her age, yet you graduated alongside her. So what if she's a Yamanaka? So are you. I've trained with you, and I know how good you are. At the risk of sounding too clichéd, I believe in you. Today's the day to show her that you're better than she thinks."

Oki stared at him for a moment, before rapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly.

"Thank you." she whispered.

Hisa rolled her eyes.

"I spent three years trying to get you to realise that." she muttered. "Then Nawaki comes along with his clichéd 'I believe in you.' and suddenly everything's better."

Oki stood up shakily, but her eyes were determined.

"Everything's not better yet." she said. "If I beat Inori, then everything will be better."

Nawaki grinned at her.

"_When _you beat Inori, I reserve the right to say 'I told you so'."

They heard a whistle coming from the field, signalling the start of the match. Oki hugged both of them, before jumping down.

"Good luck!" Nawaki yelled.

Hisa stood next to him, but she was not as optimistic.

"I really hope her new confidence lasts." she said quietly "Otherwise, luck will be the only thing she has."

!

It only took Kakashi ten minutes to find her. She had lowered her chakra signature to civilian levels, and had hidden herself in the most crowded part. Plus, her hair was dyed brown.

But Kakashi had spent ten years teaching and working with her. So even in a dense crowd, he could recognize her signature. It was almost like the war. Even when he was fighting, one small part of him had been tracking his student's signature, making sure she was ok. Naruto had been flying high, and Sasuke had been sinking lower and lower. It had just been the two of them left in the middle.

His mask crinkled into a smile. Now why would she bother coming to this exam, when she hadn't come to any of the others? Perhaps she was here on a family visit.

He had had the theory for about a month now, ever since Nawaki had demonstrated his Fire Style jutsu. It had been a wild guess, based on Sakura's abrupt departure from the village, and Nawaki's uncanny resemblance to Itachi Uchiha. There was a time when Kakashi had thought that Itachi was Nawaki's father, but he realized that there was another far more likely theory: Sasuke and Sakura were Nawaki's parents.

His gut had told him that he was right, but it was only this morning that he got to put his theory into practise. Nawaki's terrified expression after he had mentioned Sasuke watching was enough proof for him.

He found a seat three rows behind her, and sat down comfortably. For now, he would wait and spy on her. He'd talk to her later.

He grinned. A surprise welcoming was definitely in order.

!

Shikamaru declared the start of the second match, and Inori and Oki faced off.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this little sister." Inori sneered.

She expected Oki to be frightened, or to accept the fact that she was going to lose. That was always what happened, and Inori liked it that way. But today, Oki didn't seem scared at all. Instead, she rolled her eyes.

"Please stop with all that big sister crap." she said, loud enough for the entire arena to hear them. "I've dealt with enough clichés for one day. Let's just fight."

Inori snarled. If Oki wanted to act all tough, then Inori would simply be tougher.

She raced across the field and Oki mirrored her. The two met in the middle. Oki aimed a kick at Inori's face. Inori ducked easily, and smirked. Oki could bluff all she wanted, Inori would still be better at taijutsu than her. Oki tried to swipe her legs from under her but Inori jumped.

The two backed away and looked at each other carefully, sizing each other up.

"Is that all you've got?" Inori sneered.

"I'm just getting started." Oki snarled, then she winced "Wow that was incredibly clichéd."

"Just give up now." Inori said quietly.

Oki grabbed her tanto off her back and unsheathed it. Inori sighed. Why was her sister so stubborn today?

Oki lunged at her with the sword. Inori dodged every swipe, ducking and weaving. She had to admit, Oki was good with a sword, but Inori could still beat her. As Oki made another swipe Inori grabbed the blade by the handle and twisted it out of Oki's grip. The sword fell to the ground but Inori had no time to celebrate. Oki punched her hard in the stomach, before kicking her across the field.

Inori landed heavily on the grass. She struggled to her feet, trying to see through the dizziness. Suddenly, she felt someone kick her from behind and she fell to the ground. Oki stood over her, sword pointed at her throat. For a second, Inori thought Oki was actually going to stab her, but then she saw the hesitation in her sister's eyes.

That was all Inori needed. She sprang upwards, kicking both of her feet into Oki's stomach. Oki flew backwards, much like Inori had a few minutes ago. She crumpled on the ground, clutching her injured stomach. For a second, Inori thought the match was over, but Oki struggled to her feet once again.

To be honest, Inori really didn't want to face Oki. It was barely a challenge for her, and the crowd would probably be less than impressed. All she was doing was beating up her sister who was half her age. She decided to end this fight quickly.

She aimed both her hands at Oki, who was still struggling to get to her feet. Just before she cast the jutsu, Oki's eyes met hers. Her sister looked completely terrified. She knew what Inori was about to do. Inori smirked. Maybe this would show Oki once and for all who was better.

"Mind Destruction Jutsu!" she yelled.

She heard a few shocked gasps from the spectators. Most of them had presumed that she would use the Mind-Body Switch Jutsu, but Inori had mastered that jutsu at the age of ten. This jutsu was a lot more difficult and dangerous.

Which was why Oki had been the perfect guinea pig.

She smirked slightly. Oh how she loved the 'torture jutsu'. Her mother had no idea that when Inori went to 'train' with her sister, she had actually practised this technique on her. Unfortunately, Inori hadn't quite got the hang of it. It was supposed to let you enter your target's nerve system and control their movements from there. But all Inori had learnt to do so far was how to make the nerves feel pain.

Which was why Oki was now lying flat on the ground, screaming in pain. Inori had never been the victim of the jutsu herself, but she could feel herself forcing Oki's nerves to feel pain. She imagined that her sister was probably feeling the same amount of pain as a killing electric shock.

She let it drag out for a minute or two. She knew from experience that if she held the jutsu for two minutes, Oki was normally too weak to stand afterwards. The one problem with the jutsu was that it used up a huge amount of chakra.

When she felt her chakra levels reach close to zero, she released the jutsu. Oki stopped screaming but as Inori expected, she didn't get up. She grinned and made her way over to her sister. Oki gave no indication that she saw or heard Inori. Her eyes were blank, staring up at the sky. Inori pulled out a kunai, it was time to end this.

She brought the kunai downwards, aiming for Oki's exposed throat. She could see the proctors running across the field, trying to stop her but she didn't care. She brought the kunai down, satisfied when she felt it stick into something. She looked over at the proctors, expecting them to look horrified. Instead, they looked relieved. To her surprise, they made their way back to their positions as if nothing had happened. Inori frowned. Why weren't they ending the match?

She looked down at where Oki was lying. Her eyes widened as she saw her kunai sticking out of the ground. Where had Oki gone?

She jumped to her feet and spun around. She wasn't quick enough, and the punch caught her straight in her face. She reeled backwards, stunned from the blow. When the world stopped spinning, she was able to make out the figure of Oki standing across from her. Oki looked murderous.

"How are you still standing?" Inori shrieked "You've just been tortured for two full minutes!"

Oki smiled at her, but it wasn't a friendly smile.

"I've survived two years of you using that jutsu on me daily." Oki said, her voice low and angry. "Two years Inori. I've managed to build up qu ite a resistance. You could probably let me be interrogated by the ANBU and I'd come out fine."

Somewhere in the crowd, her parents were watching and listening. Inori was furious with Oki. Her parents would have understood her using the jutsu for the Exams, but Oki had just revealed that Inori had tortured her nearly every day. All her threats and warnings to Oki about keeping quiet, and she had just casually mentioned it. Inori was going to kill her.

She ran straight towards Oki, trying to punch her face. Oki calmly swatted her hand away. Inori was stunned, what had just happened.

"You used up most of your chakra on the Mind Destruction Jutsu." Oki explained "You're too weak to beat me now."

Inori's vision was tinged with red.

"Maybe I can't beat you, but you still can't beat me!" she screamed.

Oki stretched out her hand.

"Maybe not normally." she said "But I happen to know a special jutsu."

Inori's eyes widened as she realised what Oki was doing.

"Impossible…" she whispered.

!

High up in the Hokage's viewing area, Naruto was bouncing in his seat. Sasuke and Gaara were on either side of him, staring down in amazement.

"That's not possible." Sasuke whispered.

Naruto bounced even higher.

"It is! It is! I taught her it myself! It only took her a month to learn how to do it."

If Gaara had eyebrows, they would be raised. As it was, his eyes were simply bigger than normal.

"She's not using a clone." he commented.

Naruto nodded smugly.

"She doesn't need one. Now watch as my Dad's awesome jutsu saves the day!"

Sasuke had a slight frown on his face.

"Surely she doesn't have enough chakra to sustain it?"

Naruto stopped bouncing and gazed down at Oki.

"That's true." he muttered thoughtfully. "When we practised it before, she always had full chakra."

"Do you think she can do it?" Gaara asked.

Naruto nodded.

"I believe in her."

!

On the other side of the stadium, Nawaki and Hisa were both staring down at their teammate. Nawaki was stunned, Hisa just looked proud.

"Is that…" Nawaki whispered.

"It is." Hisa nodded.

"How did she do it?"

"Dad showed her it. He's been teaching her since we came out of the minefield."

Nawaki still looked amazed.

"But that jutsu's nearly impossible to master."

Hisa thought about her own impossible jutsu.

"Nawaki, I have the Rinnegan and you know one of the most difficult Fire Style jutsu ever. Why shouldn't Oki do the impossible as well?"

!

Kakashi watched in amazement as Nawaki's teammate began the jutsu. He usually prided himself on his ability to see two steps ahead. But this time, he had not seen this coming.

It was quite hard to impress him, but it seems that Team 7 could still do it.

!

Oki held the rasengan in her right hand. She could feel it sucking out her chakra. She needed to hit Inori soon, or else she was finished.

Inori stood there, staring at her in shock. Oki had to admit, it felt good to see Inori so scared of her. It was a welcome change.

She ran straight at Inori. Inori tried to dodge, but she was still slow from her lack of chakra. The rasengan slammed straight into Inori's stomach, sending her flying backwards. She was out cold before she hit the ground.

"Yes!" Oki yelled. She had done it! She had beaten Inori!

Suddenly, fatigue washed over her. She groaned in disappointment. She had used too much of her chakra, and now…

She fell to the ground and everything went dark.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N I just thought I'd say how grateful I am for every single review I've gotten. It makes me especially happy when people review more than once, so I know that they are still interested in the story. So this chapter is dedicated to all that have reviewed (I won't mention names in case you don't want me to. You know who you are.) Thank you. You're basically the reason I'm still putting more chapters out there.**

**On with the story!**

** !**

"Well," said Hisa "That was… eventful."

Half an hour had passed since Oki's fight with Inori. Shikamaru had declared the match a tie, seeing as both competitors were unconscious. The next match was currently being fought; Ning from Konoha was facing off against Karura of Suna. Both of them were weapons specialists, so it was boiling down to the simple question: which village had the best weapons?

Hisa watched the match idly from the competitor's balcony. She wasn't really too focused on it. She was worrying more about her own match. She didn't particularly want to face Naruko in the first round. She did want to fight Nawaki or Obito, as she secretly respected both of them as fighters. (Not that she would ever tell them that!) Most of all, she desperately hoped that she would not be paired off with Hizashi. She had no idea how to handle that situation, so she just hoped that Obito would get the chance to talk to him first.

The match below was reaching the final stage, and the crowd were soaking up the atmosphere as the two girls battled it out. To Hisa, the most interesting thing about the match was the spirit of both the competitors. Karura had smiled and shaken Ning's hand politely. She had even wished her luck! The proctors were all keeping watch uninterestedly, as neither girl seemed to want the other dead. It was one of the nicest matches Hisa had ever seen. She laughed dryly. What kind of world did she live in, where two opponents respecting each other was such a rarity?

She was drawn out of her musings as Nawaki joined her.

"She's awake." he said.

She turned around, and sure enough, Oki was stirring sleepily. Hisa walked over to her, Nawaki by her side. Oki stared up at them blearly. It took her a few seconds to realize who they were. Hisa saw her eyes widen as the memory of her match came rushing back. Oki shook her head a few times, before looking up sadly at them.

"I lost." she said.

Hisa saw Nawaki open his mouth, to try and make another motivational speech. But Oki didn't need wishy-washy encouragement. She needed logic, and that was Hisa's area. So she stepped in before Nawaki could talk.

"You didn't lose, you drew. There's a very big difference." she kept her voice even and calm.

Oki refused to take her eyes off the ground.

"I didn't beat Inori, I failed."

"That's stupid Oki." Hisa said, she saw Nawaki glare at her but continued anyways. "To you, you failed to beat your bully of a sister. I can understand where you're coming from. But what the crowd saw was a small seven-year-old girl take down another girl almost twice her age. With a Rasengan. In their eyes, you won."

Oki looked a bit happier, but her eyes were still worried.

"I don't care about the crowd, what about Inori? What will she think of me, now that I tried to beat her and failed?"

"For the last time, you didn't fail!" Hisa yelled "Think about this from Inori's point of view. You didn't beat her, but she didn't beat you. It's humiliating for her, not to be able to beat her little sister. Especially when she used the torture jutsu on you, and you still got up. To her, she lost badly today."

Oki took a minute to process Hisa's speech, but then a huge smile came onto her face. Hisa turned and looked at Nawaki smugly. _See? I'm not completely terrible at being nice. _ Nawaki just grinned at her.

The two of them helped Oki get to her feet, and then the three of them made their way over to the balcony to watch the end of the match. It was a close call, but Ning ran out of weapons before Karura. Karura was able to hold a kunai to her throat, but there was no danger of Ning dying. It was obvious that Karura didn't want to hurt her. Hisa guessed that it was a side-affect to growing up with Naruko. If her sister liked murdering people for fun, Hisa would probably become a pacifist. She felt a wave of sympathy for Karura, she must have seen far too much gore for a ten-year-old girl.

She watched as Ning congratulated Karura, and Karura announced that Ning was the most difficult opponent she had ever fought. That made Hisa smile. Yashamaru was a thick headed bully with an ego, and Naruko was… Naruko, but it was clear that the Kazekage had one good egg amongst his children.

The chunin and jonin made their way onto the field to clear up the huge pile of weapons strewn across the place. As they watched, Oki looked around the balcony. Most of the other genin were standing near them, discussing the most recent match.

"Where's Inori?" Oki asked.

Nawaki was staring distantly at the area reserved for the Kage, so Hisa explained what had happened.

"Once she woke up Ino and Choji dragged her away to have a 'talk'. Once they find out that you're awake they'll probably come to get you too."

Oki sighed.

"That's one awkward family talk I can do without. I mean, what can they do? What can anyone do? Ino and Choji messed Inori up and Inori messed me up. Sai was already messed up. My whole family is just really dysfunctional."

"You did the right thing Oki." Hisa said gently "No one has the right to make your life hell, not even your family."

Oki closed her eyes and sighed.

"I know that, it's just… she's still my sister and I still love her. I'm going to feel horrible telling Mom and Dad everything that's being going on. They've been lied to by their own kids, what are we supposed to do in this situation?"

Hisa didn't have a good answer for that, but luckily Nawaki spoke up.

"Counselling." he said.

Hisa wasn't sure if he was talking to Oki or to himself. She scowled. Now wasn't the time for another of Nawaki's 'how to stop Konoha from turning their people crazy' ideas.

"Not now Nawaki." she snapped.

He ignored her as usual.

"I'm serious. If Konoha had hired shinobi to act as counsellors or therapists, we'd probably have half the number of missing-nin as we do today. Think about it, wouldn't Iruka-sensei make a great counsellor?"

"We're shinobi, we've been trained to handle our emotions." Hisa protested.

"True, but that's not exactly healthy for you, is it? I'm pretty sure most of the ANBU would get great benefit from a couple of therapy sessions."

"My Dad's in the ANBU." Oki pointed out.

"Exactly."

Hisa had to admit, he had a point. She was distracted when Shikamaru stepped onto the field again. Her gut twisted as the giant computer scrolled through the remaining names. She wondered why the Hokage had decided on the giant computer, instead of names from a hat. Naruto did like to show off a bit. Was her dad watching her now? Was he as worried as she was?

!

Sasuke sighed as Naruto sank further into his seat. Gaara was beside him, with a slightly smug expression on his face.

"Thank you for that donation Naruto. I assure you that the money will be put towards good use."

"Konoha's still better." Naruto mumbled. "One of your kids lost, the other one won. I guess it's all down to your third one."

Both Gaara and Sasuke heard the taunting edge in Naruto's voice. Gaara understood instantly.

"Care to make another bet?"

Naruto sat up straighter, grinning like a loon.

"You're on! I bet that your kid gets knocked out before mine! Whoever wins the bet gets all the money they lost today back!"

Gaara considered this carefully.

"Very well, but since I have only one child left then you must also pick one child. That will make it fair."

Sasuke could almost see the gears turning in Naruto's brain.

"Fine, I pick Hisa. She's the fairest option since she's the same age as Naruko."

Gaara nodded.

"Very well. It's a bet."

Sasuke closed his eyes against a headache that was threating to bloom. Babysitting Naruto was bad enough, babysitting Naruto and Gaara? There was no amount of money in the world that would convince him to spend the day with them. Stupid job.

He opened his eyes again to see the names that were shining out of the screen.

"Hey dobe, Hisa's up. But it's not against Naruko."

!

Hisa watched as her name appeared on the screen. As the second name appeared alongside her's she let out a breath that she hadn't even realised she'd been holding.

**Hisa Uzumaki vs Kawa Inuzuka.**

Hisa relaxed and let the tension leave her body. She couldn't have asked for anyone better for her first round. The boy in question appeared behind her, cocky grin on his face as usual.

"Ready for this, Your Highness?"

Hisa scowled at him. On second thought, perhapsthere were better people to fight.

She reached into her pocket and fingered the specially crafted kunai. Should she use them in this fight at all? It was only Kawa. She pulled them out of her pocket and left them on the balcony, but at the last minute, she slipped one back into her pocket. Just one. Just in case.

"Let's just get this over with." she muttered, jumping off the balcony.

She landed in a crouch, and a few seconds later, Kawa landed next to her. His landing was a bit heavier than hers, and he winced slightly in pain. Hisa smirked, serves him right.

They stood on opposite sides of the field, facing off. Hisa analysed Kawa as best she could. To her surprise, Kiiromaru was nowhere to be seen. It was rare for an Inuzuka to fight without his hound. It would make this fight a lot easier for Hisa now. She smiled, already certain that she would win.

Kawa noticed the smile. His grin never changed, but his eyes got slightly more serious.

"I've known you for a long time, you know." he said casually. "I'm pretty sure I can read you like an open book. All your emotions are clear to me."

Hisa glared at him, daring him to try and continue. He ignored her and kept talking.

"At first, you were really nervous, but when you saw my name you relaxed. I'm pretty sure you were thinking 'Phew, it's only Kawa.' To me, I couldn't ask for a better opponent. I know I'm going to lose, and you know I'm going to lose. I saw the look in your eyes when you saw that I was alone. You think this will be easy."

Hisa gritted her teeth, annoyed at just how much he had nailed her thoughts.

"What do you want Kawa?" she snarled.

His face got even more serious.

"I know you think I'm not as good as you, and maybe I'm not, but I still want you to treat me like a real opponent. Don't hold back. I want you to hit me with everything, including your Rinnegan."

For a few seconds, Hisa considered lying and denying his request. But one look in his eyes, and she knew she would comply. He may not be talented as a shinobi, but he was not stupid.

"Look Kawa, I just want this to be over quickly. How do you expect me not to hold back when you don't even have your dog?"

She was looking for excuses and he knew it.

"This isn't about Kiiromaru. To be honest, I fight better without him. I respect you, and I know you're nothing like Naruko. I know you respect Obito and Nawaki, even if you try and deny it. I'm asking you to respect me like that. I saw you take those kunai out, and that's how I know you're a decent person. You don't consider me a challenge, but you still took a kunai with you."

She sighed and gave in.

"Fine." she said. "Let's fight, and no holding back."

Shikamaru sighed from the middle of the field.

"If both of you are finished your troublesome dramatic speeches, begin!"

As soon as the words left Shikamaru's mouth, Kawa was halfway across the field.

_He's fast _was the only thing Hisa had time to think before an elbow slammed into her stomach, knocking her backwards. As she hit the floor, she felt blood welling up inside her mouth, and quickly spat it out. She jumped to her feet, expecting another attack.

Kawa was just standing there, staring at her in terror.

"Hisa! Are you ok? I didn't mean to hit you that hard, I thought you were going to block!"

Hisa scowled at him.

"Have you not heard yourself over the past five minutes? I'm fine, give me some credit. Don't hold back just because I'm a girl."

Kawa relaxed, and the cocky smirk came back onto his face.

"It's more to do with the fact that you barely reach my shoulder. It's not going to look great whether I win or lose."

Hisa glared at him and suddenly it was just the two of them, trading insults and fighting just for the fun of it. Kawa was one of the few people who she actually enjoyed spending time with, even though he was more irritating than Obito and Nawaki combined. Right now, the Chunin Exams didn't matter, all that mattered was beating Kawa.

"You're not going to win. You got lucky there, but that's not happening a second time. And it's not my fault I'm small!"

He grinned and reached into his pocket, pulling out two small purple balls.

"I'm going to get serious now." he warned.

She smirked.

"You couldn't be serious if you tried."

He threw the balls, and purple smoke exploded around Hisa. She panicked and tried to see through the smoke, but whatever was in those balls was strong enough to block her Rinnegan. She moved cautiously through the fog, eyes scanning as best she could for Kawa.

The punch to her face caught her completely off guard. Her head reeled back and bright lights exploded behind her eyes. Another punch found her stomach and winded her, while the third punch to her back knocked her onto the ground.

Being her brother's teammate, Hisa knew things about Kawa. She knew that he had difficulty with shinobi techniques, especially his clan's secret jutsu. Even after living side by side with Kiiromaru, Kawa still had trouble working as a team with the dog. But despite his disabilities in the ninjutsu area, Kawa had still graduated a year earlier than most people and there was a reason for that.

Kawa was strong. Very, very strong. He could beat most chunin and some jonin at arm wrestling, and fighting a taijutsu battle against him was dangerous. He had his weaknesses, such as his insecurities about being an Inuzuka, but Hisa didn't feel like exploiting them today.

She was running out of options, except for the one that was yelling _Do it! Do it! _over and over again in her head. She didn't want to use this technique, but the smoke was making her nervous. She extended her arms until they were horizontal, extending out on either side of her.

"Almighty Push!" she yelled.

The effect was instantaneous. The smoke was blown away from her in a perfect circle, like there was some invisible force-field stopping it from getting any closer to her. Kawa was also caught in the blast, and was sent crashing into the wall. The entire stadium shook as the walls were battered by the wave of pure chakra. Hisa heard the spectators whispering amongst themselves. Some looked at her in awe, others in fear.

Oh how she hated the whispers. The ones that would follow her until the day she died. Joking with Kawa had lowered her guard, and now she felt her face heat up. She wasn't sure if she was blushing from anger or embarrassment, but it was enough to make her feel like breaking down. She took a deep breath to calm herself down. It wouldn't do to make a scene in the middle of such a big event. She was the Hokage's daughter. She could do this.

She focused on Kawa, who was stumbling to his feet. Hisa was relieved to see that he was still wearing his cocky grin, as if she hadn't just smashed him into a brick wall.

"That's a pretty good jutsu." he said, as if he was commenting on her hairstyle "I'm glad you thought I was worth it Your Highness."

She gritted her teeth. He couldn't call her that now! Not when everyone was watching. She glared at him, hoping her Rinnegan would suddenly develop the power to zap him into ashes. Sadly, nothing happened.

Kawa stood up straight, before reaching into his pocket again. This time, he brought out a food pill. He popped it into his mouth, and grinned at her.

"Ready for Round Two?"

She smirked and got into a fighting stance.

"Bring it on."


	25. Chapter 25

Hisa hated to admit it (and she really, really hated it) but she had underestimated Kawa. Because of his poor ninjutsu skills, she had forgotten to think about his intellect. Now, there was a good chance that she would lose the match.

She wasn't sure how much food pills Kawa had, but she was sure he had brought enough to keep his chakra levels full for most of the match. She on the other hand, had used up a lot of chakra already, and didn't have any way to get it back. She needed to end this soon, otherwise she would lose.

Kawa finished eating the second food pill, and now he was almost glowing with chakra. Hisa tensed as he slid into a fighting stance. Then suddenly, he was gone.

Hisa looked around wildly, where had he gone? At the last second, she glanced upwards and saw Kawa about to descend on her, fist pulled back ready to punch. She quickly did a backflip, just in time. A split second later, the ground was shaking from the impact of Kawa's punch. But Hisa was safely out of the damage zone.

Kawa didn't give her any time to recover. He came straight after her. She ducked as he threw another punch at her head. His other hand snapped forward and she dodged again. He punched again and again, never letting her recover or retaliate. All she could do was dodge.

After he had thrown six punches, Hisa managed to backpedal away. Kawa ran after her again. The food pill had changed him; there was a feral and dangerous look in his eye. He swiped at her again and she jumped into the air to avoid him.

Big mistake.

As she landed, he charged straight at her, burying both his fists in her stomach. Hisa was sent flying; she crashed painfully onto the ground, cutting the side of her head on a stray shuriken. _Maybe I can sue the clean-up crew _she thought dazedly.

She tried to get up, but every bone in her body felt broken. It took all her strength to move her hand a few inches. Her body was trembling. How could she fight if she couldn't even move?

!

Gaara gazed down at the small girl. She was quite a good fighter, but he doubted she could beat Naruko, even with the Rinnegan. It was clear that she had lost to this boy and he hadn't even used a jutsu.

He turned and looked at his two companions. Sasuke was staring impassively down at the match, but his forehead was slightly creased. For Sasuke, this meant that he was very worried. Naruto surprised Gaara. He was completely calm, Gaara thought he even saw a small smile. Gaara was confused, did Naruto think his daughter could still win? It was clear that she was beaten.

"Well, I think it is time you paid me Hokage. I've won the bet." Gaara said.

Naruto smiled and shook his head.

"The match isn't over yet." he said "And knowing Hisa, it won't be over for a long time."

!

This was it. The match was over, Hisa had lost. As she lay on the ground, she felt nothing but anger. She had failed everyone. The entire village believed that she had God-like powers. _Well, if I do it would be nice if they could heal me now._ She tried to push herself up again, but the pain was too much. She fell back onto the ground.

How was she supposed to live up to the Sage of Six Paths if she couldn't even become a chunin? She was weak, far too weak. She was too weak to beat Kawa Inuzuka- Wait a minute! Kawa Inuzuka? There was no way she was weaker than him! New strength flooded through her limbs as she struggled to her feet. So maybe she wouldn't become a chunin today, but she was still going to beat Kawa!

She could hear the gasps coming from the spectators as she stood up. At first, there was a shocked silence, but then the crowd started cheering. She smirked and looked up at the Hokage. Her father was staring down at her, and even from here she could see the proud smile on his face. _Never give up_ was one of the main lessons Naruto had taught her.

She turned around and faced Kawa. The effect of the food pills seemed to have lessened, and he was staring at her in concern. She was pleased that he didn't try to help her, it meant that he was taking her seriously.

She reached up and wiped the blood off her face.

"Nice try." she said "But it'll take more than that to beat me."

He grinned at her.

"You can be pretty cocky for someone with blood pouring out of her face."

"I learnt from the best."

"Let's hope he taught you how to beat this!"

He ran at her again, but this time she was ready for him. He jumped up, aiming for her face, but she jumped higher and avoided him completely. She landed in a crouch and followed him when he landed.

"I'm still not sure you're taking me seriously." he said. "You've barely gone on the offensive at all."

She scowled at him.

"Sure Kawa, I let myself get cut and bruised like this because I know I can easily avoid you if I want. I obviously _chose _to let you hit me."

His hand dipped into his pocket again, pulling out something Hisa couldn't see.

"Actually," he said (She was getting tired of all the talking, they were in a middle of a fight!) "The Hisa I knew a few months ago might actually have done that, but I can see you've changed. You're treating more and more people like they're your equals."

She sighed, she didn't have time for his psychoanalysis. They could talk after the match.

She tried to run towards him, but he threw the hidden objects from his hand. Hisa was once again enveloped in purple smoke. This time, she didn't panic. Even as Kawa began attacking her, she tried to think of a plan. Using her Rinnegan was out of the question. All she could do for now was try and block the worst of Kawa's attacks. When the smoke thinned, she would think of something.

It took a few minutes for the smoke to clear, and Hisa had some brand-new bruises when it did. When she could finally see, she saw Kawa standing in front of her. She was frustrated to see that she hadn't been able to land a single hit on him. He had a huge advantage in the smoke, seeing as his nose was as sensitive as a dog's. But she had managed to think of a plan of sorts, one that didn't involve too much chakra.

Kawa threw two more of the purple balls. It was obvious that he planned to finish it this time. But Hisa knew this, and she used the smoke to her advantage. When it cleared again, there were four Hisa's surrounding Kawa. While his sense of smell was much better than an average human, he wasn't good at things like identifying clones.

Kawa struck the first clone in the stomach, making disappear in a puff. The second and third Hisa met the same fate. He turned and looked at the last Hisa, who looked nervous now that she was all alone. He ran at her, and for a minute they traded punches and kicks. Finally, Kawa was able to punch her in the head. She hit the ground hard and didn't get up.

He walked over to her, hiding his concern under a smirk. Her eyes were closed and it was clear that she was unconscious.

"Proctor…" he began.

Hisa disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kawa gasped and turned around, but it was too late. Hisa's foot connected with his face, knocking him down. As he hit the ground she ran forward and grabbed the pouch with the purple balls in it. She tucked the balls safely away in her own pouch, before turning back to him. He was on his feet again, staring at her incredulously.

"How… How did…"

!

"How did she do it?" Gaara asked, staring down at the girl closely. She had suddenly appeared, as if out of thin air, and kicked the boy in his face.

Gaara turned and looked at Naruto. Naruto had a huge smirk on his face, which Gaara expected. What he didn't expect was for Sasuke to also have a huge smirk on his face.

"She copied one of the teme's techniques." Naruto explained smugly.

"Instead of making three clones, she made four and substituted one for herself. That way she was able to hide in that tree." Sasuke pointed towards the grove of trees growing at the side of the field. "She waited until he was too confused and off guard. Then she attacked him."

Gaara returned his gaze to Hisa. Perhaps she was good enough to face Naruko after all.

!

Down on the field, Kawa had just realized Hisa had taken his smoke bombs. His smirk faltered for a few seconds. Hisa watched him quietly, wondering what he was going to do next. He had no ninjutsu he could use, and apart from his strength she was slightly better than him at taijutsu. That only left weapons.

Sure enough, Kawa drew out eight shuriken and flung them at Hisa. She dodged each one with ease. Although the Rinnegan didn't have the powers of the Sharingan, it had improved her eyesight, reflexes and hand-eye coordination. The shuriken couldn't touch her.

But Kawa knew that. He ran directly behind the shuriken. Once she had dodged them, he attacked her again. He managed to land two direct hits on her, one hurt her left arm and the other winded her. She started to get frustrated. She needed time to form hand-seals for her ninjutsu, but Kawa made sure she didn't get any. It was a battle of pure strength and speed, and although Hisa was good at both of these, they were Kawa's specialities.

Another kick managed to knock her down. While she was on the ground, Kawa jumped into the air, fist pulled back. He aimed a punch at her chest, and she raised both of her hands to block him. His fists hit her arms like a sledgehammer, but she gritted her teeth and kept her arms steady. Once his punch had lost its strength, she grabbed his arm and threw him behind her. He slammed into the wall with a satisfying crunch.

She pushed herself to her feet, and watched as he did the same. His movements were shaky now; the wall had hurt him badly. Nevertheless, he stood up straight and ran towards her again.

It was easier for her this time. His strength and speed had lost a lot of energy, and now they were fighting on equal terms. Although Kawa was stronger and faster, Hisa had the better technique. They fought for ten minutes, punching, dodging, kicking and jumping. Hisa was losing energy, but Kawa was too. She mimicked his strategy from earlier, not letting him have enough time to reach for the food pills.

After ten minutes, they stood facing each other, panting heavily. Both of them were down to their last reserves of energy. Everyone could sense it: this was the final blow.

It's funny, Hisa mused, what it all boiled down to in the end. All her ninjutsu and taijutsu techniques meant nothing now. All that mattered was your will. Which one of them wanted this more? The answer was obvious to Hisa.

She ran at Kawa with strength she didn't know she had. He was too exhausted to do anything but stare wide-eyed as she kicked him. He flew into the air and she followed him. As he began to fall she brought her foot down on his stomach and kicked him into the ground with all her remaining strength. The result was a small crater and a boy who was beaten.

The stadium erupted into cheers as Shikamaru declared Hisa the winner. She ignored all of them and walked over to Kawa. He was trying to pull himself out of the crater but he could barely move. She rolled her eyes as he tried once again to pull himself up.

"Here." she said, jumping down next to him. "Let me help you."

He grinned tiredly at her.

"Thanks Princess but you can leave me here for the medics."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Princess?"

His grin got wider.

"Yep, I figured it was time you got a new nickname. I think you've earned it today."

As Hisa walked back to the balcony, she felt confused. Why did she feel happier about the new nickname than she did about winning the match? Why did she feel so proud when Kawa had said she'd earned it?

She had no answers to these questions, so she ignored them as best she could and focused on waving to the crowd.

!

"Hah! I told you she would win!" Naruto yelled pointing a triumphant finger at Gaara.

Gaara calmly pushed the finger away from his face. He looked at Sasuke, begging for help. Sasuke smirked.

"I'm going to take a quick break. I'll be back in a minute."

He left quickly. Gaara glared at the back of his shirt. Stupid Uchiha. He sighed as Naruto continued to jeer about his daughter's success.

"You thought she wasn't good enough Gaara! I'd like to see your kid try any of that! You might as well just hand over the money…"

!

Nawaki watched as an exhausted Hisa made her way up the stairs. Once she reached the balcony area, she slumped against the wall and closed her eyes. Nawaki decided to let her rest and congratulate her later. She needed to replenish her chakra for her next match.

Oki walked over to him and they watched as Kawa was led off on a stretcher. Despite his loss, he was grinning smugly. Nawaki guessed it had something to do with what he had told Hisa a few minutes ago. He had noticed Hisa leave the field with a very red face.

Oki pointed down towards the computer, which was once again spinning through names. Nawaki wondered if this would be his turn now. The only people left were him, Hizashi, Obito, Shikai, Chouko, Naruko and Lu. As long as he didn't face Naruko, he thought he had a decent chance.

The screen finally settled on two names. Nawaki heard Oki gasp beside him, although he wasn't quite sure why.

**Obito Hyuga vs Hizashi Hyuga.**

Nawaki wondered why Obito had his mother's surname. Perhaps it was because he was going to be the next heir of the clan. He suddenly noticed that the whole balcony had gone quiet. Everyone was staring at Obito and Hizashi, who were having some kind of mental conversation. Eventually they seemed to come to an agreement, and the two of them vaulted over the railing and onto the field.

Nawaki didn't bother asking what was going on between them. He was pretty sure he would find out soon enough.


	26. Chapter 26

Nawaki watched as Hizashi and Obito faced off. There was an air of tension in the arena. Even Shikamaru looked worried as he declared the start of the match. Most of the spectators looked just as confused as Nawaki felt, but he noticed that some of them had worried or understanding looks. Apparently, Konoha had yet another secret regarding the Hyuga.

Hisa came to stand next to him on the balcony. She sighed as she saw who was fighting, and shook her head regretfully. That was more than Nawaki could take.

"What's going on?" he demanded.

Hisa kept her eyes focused on her brother as she replied.

"Family issues. It looks like everyone's going to find out anyways. I'm glad it was Obito instead of me. He can probably handle this."

"Handle what?" Nawaki asked, annoyed by her vagueness.

"You'll find out soon enough." she replied mysteriously.

Nawaki knew that there was no point arguing with Hisa. When she didn't want to talk, she wouldn't talk. If you tried to make her, you usually ended up with your head in a wall. Nawaki turned back to look at the two Hyuga. Neither had made a move since the match had started. Obito was the first one to speak.

"Hizashi." he said quietly. "Fight me please. Don't quit before it's even begun."

Hizashi kept his face expressionless, but there was a hint of anger in his voice when he replied.

"What's the point in fighting you?" he asked "You're the Hokage's son, a prodigy. I'm a simple branch family member with skills that are barely good enough to graduate. It's my destiny to lose to you."

Nawaki sighed. Apparently preaching about fate ran in the family.

"Don't be like this." Obito pleaded. "My dad failed the academy graduation exam tons of times and now he's the Hokage. Your dad was a prodigy like me, but Naruto still beat him in the exams."

Hizashi snorted.

"Yes, I'm sure he was brilliant. He lost to the class failure! Besides, if he was so good then how come he died in the war? Surely if he was _so _talented he could have avoided a few kunai."

Nawaki was confused by this. Kunai? Didn't Hizashi know that Neji died protecting Hinata and Naruto? What was going on here?

Apparently, Obito had the same questions.

"How much did your mother tell you about Neji?" he asked quietly.

Hizashi scowled.

"She told me enough. He was a fool who got my mother pregnant at seventeen then died uselessly before I was born."

Obito kept his face calm but Nawaki could see his fists shaking. Obito was angry, at who, Nawaki didn't know.

"Did she say that?" Obito asked in a dangerously quiet tone.

"Not exactly." Hizashi replied carelessly. "She doesn't like to talk about him, which is understandable. But she told me enough for me to get the picture. He failed her, and created me. I was born a failure, and I will always be one."

"You're wrong." Obito said "Your father never failed anyone. If you knew what he did for my family then you wouldn't speak about him like that."

Nawaki could see that Hizashi wasn't going to agree. His face had gone back to the blank mask. Hizashi raised his hand, trying to signal the proctors.

"Wait!" Obito said quickly. "Please, just fight me. It doesn't matter if you win or lose, you'll still have more dignity then just quitting."

Hizashi laughed bitterly and pointed to his forehead.

"I'm forced to walk around every day with a neon green x tattooed on my forehead. You try having dignity with this."

"Please." Obito said again "If you won't do it for yourself, do it for your mom. She's watching you right now."

Obito seemed to have struck a nerve. Hizashi rushed at Obito and Obito barely dodged the strike.

"Shut up!" Hizashi snarled "What do you know about my family? Just 'cause your mom's the head of the clan doesn't mean you own us!"

Obito dodged another strike. Nawaki had never seen Hizashi so angry. He was holding nothing back. But Obito was still too fast for Hizashi to hit.

"My mom has never acted like she's better than you." Obito said quickly when Hizashi paused to catch his breath. "The reason I'm trying to get you to fight me is because I care for you. You're my family."

"Why should I care about family?" Hizashi asked, aiming another blow at Obito. "I don't want to be a Hyuga, especially not Neji Hyuga's son. To me, my only family is my mother."

"Why?" asked Obito. "Why do you act like this? I'd understand if you're mad at my family for what happened to Neji, but instead you seem to be mad at Neji for dying!"

"Of course I'm mad at him!" Hizashi screamed "I'm furious! Do you have any idea what my mother went through because of him? She loved him, and he left her alone with a bastard child. And because he was a Hyuga, there was a huge scandal. You have no idea what my life has been like!"

Nawaki could see Obito getting more and more confused. It seemed like neither Obito nor Hizashi knew the full story. But Nawaki could think of one person who might know exactly what was going on.

!

Hinata watched worriedly from the Kage's family area. Matsuri stood next to her, looking just as confused as most of the audience.

"What the hell are those two talking about?" she asked.

Hinata sighed, watching her son try and reason with Hizashi.

"To be honest, I'm not sure myself. If I'm going to figure this out, I need to find someone and it needs to be private."

They glanced at the guards assigned to protect them. Two of them were playing rock paper scissors, and one of them was asleep. Only the fourth guard, a Hyuga, was actually paying attention to his charges.

"Get going." muttered Matsuri "I'll cover for you."

She walked over to the Hyuga and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, could you show me the way to the bathroom?"

Once the two of them had left, Hinata slipped quietly over the railing. The two guards were engrossed in their game and didn't notice her leave.

Once she was hidden in the crowd, she activated her byakugan and scanned the crowd for a familiar face. Her old teammates Kiba and Shino were there, along with Kiba's sister. She looked further and further until she found the person she was looking for. She deactivated her eyes and slipped through the crowd.

Once she had found her target, it was easy to slip into the empty seat next to her. Tenten kept her eyes focused on the match, but Hinata knew she had noticed her.

"Hello Tenten." she started.

Tenten barely glanced at her.

"Hey Hinata, shouldn't you be with Matsuri?"

"Yes." Hinata agreed "But I couldn't help wondering why your son is so… unhopeful about fighting Obito. I was also wondering why he seems to think of Neji as a huge villain."

Tenten sighed, finally taking her eyes off the match.

"To be honest, I've been wondering that myself for some time now. I don't talk much about N…Neji, but I've never been bitter about him. At least, not in front of anyone, especially not Hizashi."

"Then why is he so angry at Neji, and why doesn't he seem to have any self-confidence?"

Hinata pretended not to notice the way Tenten winced everytime Neji's name was mentioned. The day Neji died, Hinata had lost her big brother. But Tenten had lost more than that. Hinata knew that Tenten was an orphan. Neji, Lee and Gai had been her only family. But there had always been more between Neji and Tenten than just friends. If you asked Hinata, Neji and Tenten had been soulmates. She had seen the way her cousin had acted around Tenten. If they weren't soulmates, then they were definitely lovers. Now, even though fifteen years had passed, Tenten still had a haunted look in her eyes, a look Hinata had seen many times on both Sasuke and Kakashi.

But this was all old news to Hinata. Right now, she needed to figure out what was wrong with Hizashi and Tenten was the only one with the answers.

"Hizashi isn't a very… talented shinobi. He has his strengths, but the Byakugan isn't one of them. He feels like he's a waste of space, and he's just a kid. When you're angry about your own faults, it's easy to find someone to blame. Especially someone who isn't around to defend himself."

Hinata thought about Tenten's explanation. It did make some sense.

"So you're saying Hizashi is ashamed at his lack of talent, and he vents his frustration by blaming it on his father?"

Tenten nodded, her eyes back to watching the match.

"I think that's part of it. The other part is probably my fault. I've given him the wrong impression of Neji. I thought he wouldn't notice how sometimes people were hard on us, but he did and came up with the wrong conclusion."

"Why didn't you tell him that Neji died protecting me and Naruto?" Hinata asked.

Tenten smiled sarcastically, but there was no real malice behind her words.

"That worked out great for your dad last time with Neji didn't it? If I told him his father died protecting you, the clan leader, he might hold a grudge against you."

"Do you?" Hinata asked quietly "Do you hold a grudge against us?"

Tenten's eyes widened and she looked at Hinata in disbelief.

"Why the hell would I hold a grudge against you? I understand why Neji did it, and I definitely have a grudge against that Obito Uchiha guy-I don't care if Naruto thinks he's changed- but I'm not stupid enough to hold a grudge against you for being alive. I'll try and talk to Hizashi after the Exams."

The crowd roared and Hianta watched as Obito struck back, hitting sixteen of Hizashi's chakra points in one go.

"I'm not sure you'll need to." she said as she watched her son "Obito's a good kid, he can handle Hizashi for now. I'll have a talk with Hisa as soon as possible and explain this to her. Hopefully she can help too."

Tenten nodded. She looked back down to where her son was fighting his heart out.

"Neji knew what he was doing." she said calmly "Hizashi's not a bastard. He's the only piece of Neji I have left."

Hianta didn't know what to say to that, so she left quickly. Her next mission was to find Hisa. Hisa would need to know the full story about Hizashi, and Obito too when he finished the match.

!

Nawaki's eyes were glued to the field. Ever since Hizashi had gotten angry, the match had gotten a lot more intense. Obito kept trying to reason with Hizashi, but in the end he was forced to focus fully on the fight.

Both Hyugas were fighting with the Gentle Fist. Obito moved quickly and his strikes were deadly. Nawaki could see why people called him a prodigy. Hizashi on the other hand, was fuelled mainly by anger. He struck wildly, not caring how much damage he took as long as he managed to hit Obito, which happened about half the time.

Nawaki knew something was wrong when Oki started mumbling about déjà vu again. Sure enough, as Hizashi stuck out his arm in a messy attempt to hit Obito, Obito grabbed his arm and held it firm between his two hands. He pulled back the sleeve of Hizashi's long sleeved black top. Several red marks were visible underneath the skin.

"I've cut off all your chakra points in your right arm. Are you sure you want to keep fighting?" Obito was staring at Hizashi with unreadable eyes. It was as if Hizashi was doing some kind of personal test. He stared back at Obito for a minute, then he nodded slowly.

"I'll keep fighting." he said, pulling his arm out of Obito's grasp "What do I have left to lose?"

Obito gave a small, proud smile and suddenly Nawaki realised exactly what kind of test Obito had been giving Hizashi. Even though Hizashi fully believed that he was going to lose, he would still keep fighting.

The two of them rushed at each other again, and after that it became a flurry of fists, feet and heads. They moved so fast Nawaki almost activated his sharingan to keep up with them. After a few minutes someone nudged him on the shoulder. He turned to see Oki looking apologetically at him.

"Hisa and I have to go for a while." she said "Our mom's want to talk to us."

Nawaki nodded and they walked away, leaving him on his own by the railing. He understood why Ino wanted to speak to Oki, but why did Hinata want to talk to Hisa? Did it have something to do with the match?

The match in question was almost over. Hizashi was trying his best, which was strange enough considering his attitude at the start of the match. Nawaki tried to think back to when Hizashi had snapped. It had something to do with Obito mentioning Tenten. Did Hizashi think his mother wasn't proud of him? That didn't seem like the Tenten of Sakura's stories.

Suddenly, Nawaki noticed a commotion down on the field. Obito had managed to pin Hizashi to the ground, and his chakra covered hand was hovering inches away from Hizashi's heart. The two boys were locked in a staring contest.

"Do it." Hizashi said "I know that it's my fate to lose to you, just like it was my father's fate to die uselessly and my mother's fate to be cursed with a bastard child. You can't fight things like that."

Obito stared down at Hizashi for a few minutes, before pulling back and standing up.

"I forfeit." Obito declared loudly.

There was a shocked silence around the arena. Not one person could believe their ears. Why on earth would he forfeit when he had basically won the match.

However, Obito had forfeited and Shikamaru had no choice but to declare Hizashi the winner. Nawaki watched as Hizashi got shakily to his feet, staring at Obito in shock.

"Why… why did you do that?"

Obito looked at him, and the intensity of his gaze made Hizashi take a step back.

"I owe your father everything." Obito said quietly "This is my way of paying him back."

Nawaki understood what Obito was talking about, but Hizashi was completely confused.

"What are you talking about?"

Obito turned and left the field, making his way quickly back to the balcony. Nawaki helped him climb inside. What was the point of the stairs when most of the competitors just jumped off the balcony?

Nawaki jumped when he heard a groan behind him. He turned around to see Hisa glaring at Obito.

"Why didn't you just tell him there and then?" she said angrily "Now I have to try and make him see sense. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not really a people person!"

Obito sighed wearily, running his fingers through his messy black hair.

"It wasn't the right time." he said "Besides, he'll probably lose before he has to face you. If he doesn't, I'm sure you'll do fine.

Nawaki sighed and turned away. All this confusing secret stuff was making him really annoyed. Half of the time he couldn't follow what was going on, and most of their reactions made no sense to him. Stupid Hyugas.

He turned around and watched as the next two names were chosen. There were only five of them left.

Would he be next?


	27. Chapter 27

Karura watched as her sister's name flashed up on the screen. She sighed. Whoever else was chosen was a dead man, unless…

"Naruko."

Karura turned to look at her mother. Matsuri was staring at Naruko, who kept her back turned and her eyes focused on the screen.

"Naruko, look at me please."

Karura watched as Naruko slowly turned around to glare at her mother. It was funny, Karura thought, how the Kazekage of Suna, one of the strongest shinobi in the world, couldn't control Naruko at all. Yet her mother, a talented jonin but nowhere near Gaara's level, was the only one who Naruko seemed to show any respect to.

Karura watched now as the two faced off. Naruko's glare was so frosty it should have frozen Matsuri where she stood. Matsuri remained calm, never breaking eye contact with Naruko.

_Why does every conversation with Naruko become a battle of wills? _Karura thought.

Naruko was the first one to break. She looked to the side, frustration evident on her face.

"What do you want, Mother?" she growled.

Matsuri was used to the hostility. They all were. They had all coped with Naruko in different ways. Yashamaru had become a bully, trying to prove to himself that people couldn't push him around. Gaara had grown more serious, devoting most of his time with his family to trying to understand Naruko. Family conversations were usually centred around Naruko nowadays. Karura couldn't remember the last time her father had asked about her day. She didn't blame Gaara, he was the Kazekage and Naruko was a constant threat to the village. Matsuri was the only one who could ever make Naruko listen, but she still spent time with her other two children. She and Gaara were the only two people in Suna who weren't afraid of Naruko. Karura herself was terrified of Naruko, but she tried to hide it as best she could.

Right now, she was scared. Whatever her mother was about to do, it wouldn't please Naruko.

"I don't want you to kill this boy. I don't want you do kill anyone at all but I understand that it happens in these matches. But please, try not to."

Sure enough, Matsuri's request caused Naruko to spin around furiously. Once again, their eyes locked and they became engrossed in a staring match. Karura hovered awkwardly at the side, not quite sure what to do.

Once again, Naruko lost. She growled angrily and turned back to the field. Her opponent was already down there, waiting for the start of the match.

"I won't kill anyone until the final." she said "But I can't promise anything after that."

Karura noticed the look of pain in Matsuri's eyes. Seeing her own daughter act this way hurt her mother badly. That was why Karura tried to be nice to everyone, to make up for Naruko.

As Naruko jumped over the railing (Seriously, was no one going to use the stairs?) Karura looked up at the sky for the millionth time. If there was someone out there controlling the fate of the universe, why did he always make problems for the Kazekage's family? Why had he given Naruko too much power for a girl her age?

No one ever gave Karura the answers to these questions, so she turned back and watched the match.

!

Hisa watched as the two names appeared on the screen.

**Naruko vs Chouko Akimichi.**

She turned to look at Chouko. His normally round and cheerful face had gone white, and he looked like he was about to faint. Shikai helped him make his way to the stairs and the two boys made their way down.

Hisa turned to look at Nawaki. He was looking a lot more relaxed now that there was no longer a chance he had to face Naruko. Now that Naruko and Chouko were gone, that left Nawaki, Lu and Shikai. One of them would get a free pass to the second round, while the other two would have to battle it out.

Down on the field, Chouko was standing nervously, waiting for Naruko to come down. Hisa couldn't blame Chouko for looking terrified. Knowing Naruko, there was a big chance Chouko would be dead by the end of the day.

Naruko jumped off her balcony and landed perfectly on the ground. She walked over to Chouko, who looked like he wanted to bolt. Shikamaru walked over, gave Chouko a quick pat on the shoulder for encouragement, and declared the start of the match.

The match was over in less than a minute.

Chouko used his Expansion Jutsu to make himself look like a ball. Naruko stood silently, not moving an inch.

"Human Boulder!" yelled Chouko, charging at Naruko.

Naruko didn't even flinch. One second Chouko was barrelling towards her. The next second she had grabbed his neck mid-roll and slammed him to the ground. She tightened her hold on his neck until he began to choke. Shikamaru quickly declared her the winner.

Hisa studied Naruko closely. She had only used one move, so her kekkei genkai was still a mystery. However, she seemed to be extremely skilled at taijutsu. It was almost impossible to stop an Akimichi mid-roll, yet Naruko had done it without using excessive force. So she was smart too, for a five year old.

Naruko made her way back to her balcony, and Chouko hobbled his way back up the stairs. The others surrounded him, congratulating him on surviving. By the end of it all, he seemed quite pleased with himself, despite his loss.

Hisa looked back at the screen as the three remaining names flashed up. Nawaki was nervous again, gripping the railing tightly, eyes never leaving the screen. Hisa was nervous too, but for a completely different reason. She knew Nawaki would be fine, he could hold his own against both Lu and Shikai. Hisa was worried about the second round. There was a big chance she would face either Hizashi or Naruko, and those matches wouldn't end well for her. So what if Hizashi needed help? She wasn't going to forfeit like Obito. If she did end up facing Hizashi, she would win first, talk later.

She focused on the screen as the two names flashed up.

!

Once the two names flashed up, Kakashi decided that it was time to make his move. He studied Sakura closely, waiting for the perfect moment to jump down and scare her.

"Are you going to stare at me all day or are you going to come down and talk to me?"

Kakashi was so startled he almost fell out of his seat. She had known the whole time that he had been there! He hid his surprise and jumped down into the empty seat next to her.

"Why hello there Sakura, fancy meeting you here."

She smiled at him and rolled her eyes.

"I suppose you know why I'm here."

"Not quite, but I can guess. I don't think you're here to see Naruto's kids."

"You know." she said, turning around to face him fully.

"Know about what? Sasuke's child? Yes I know about that."

"Keep your voice down!" she hissed.

He put his hands up in surrender.

"Sorry, it's not every day your old student comes back after mysteriously disappearing from the village."

"You haven't told them I'm here." It was a statement, not a question.

"If by 'them' you mean Sasuke and Naruto then no, I haven't told them anything. I don't plan on telling them anything unless you say so."

She looked at him curiously, trying to see behind his calm demeanour.

"Why would you do that?" she asked calmly "I'm a missing-nin, and I'm not special like Sasuke was. Surely the right thing would be to turn me in."

"Well Sakura, the thing is that to me you are special. So I'm not going to do anything. I'll let you continue this crazy plan."

She sighed.

"Why does everyone think my plans are crazy?"

He looked at her incredulously.

"Don't you remember your three failed schemes to see my mask? Not to mention that surprise birthday you tried to organize. I was in the hospital for three weeks!"

"Point taken." she mumbled. "Anyways, how did you find out?"

He smiled under his mask. Time for a surprise.

"Nawaki told me himself. I've been training him for the last month, and he's good."

She nodded, eyes scanning the stadium. Kakashi didn't know if she was looking for Nawaki, Sasuke , Naruto or all three.

"I know that you've been training him. I saw the two of you practising once, you were teaching him the water clone. But seriously, how did you find out? Nawaki would never tell you."

He smiled again. So she trusted her son completely, that was good.

"You're right, he didn't tell me. I had a hunch and I made a comment about you and Sasuke. His face was all the proof I needed."

She had turned around and was glaring at him.

"What do you mean you 'made a comment' about me and Sasuke?" If you told him about that one time with the cream…"

He put his hands up again in surrender.

"Calm down. I merely told him that you were proud of him and that I would try and get Sasuke to watch his match."

"Oh," she said, settling down again in her seat. "That's good. But now he'll be even more nervous, knowing Sasuke will be watching."

He looked at her closely out of the corner of his eye. Her face gave nothing away.

"Do you think he can win?"

She nodded.

"Of course I do. He's my son and I believe in him."

!

Nawaki gulped as his name flashed across the screen.

**Nawaki Hachino vs Lu Ten.**

He looked across at his opponent. Lu and Lee were locked in some sort of strange embrace and… was that a sunset? Nawaki shook his head and turned away from the two spandex-clad shinobi.

Oki came over and gave him a hug.

"Good luck." she said cheerfully "Not like you need it. I know you'll do great."

Nawaki tried to control his blushing, he really did. But his face still resembled a tomato. Luckily, Oki moved on and Hisa was next.

"Lu Ten's only strength is his taijutsu." she began "He's been trained by Lee so don't try and fight him on taijutsu alone. Use your ninjutsu techniques, and if you know any genjutsu that would be helpful."

Nawaki did know genjutsu, but it all centred around his sharingan.

"Thanks." he said to Hisa.

She scowled in embarrassment.

"Just try not to lose too badly." she muttered.

He grinned. "It warms my heart to know I can count on your support."

"Get going," she said, but there was a slight smile on her face.

Nawaki jumped over the railing (If you can't beat 'em, join 'em)

He landed on the ground just as Lu landed next to him. Nawaki took a moment to look around the stadium. Somewhere in the crowd, for the first time ever, both his parents were watching him. He would not let them down.

Nawaki was strangely relaxed about the whole match. Lu was better at taijutsu, but Nawaki was miles better at ninjutsu.

He was going to win this.


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N I know that a lot of you are probably confused about what exactly happened during the war and how it ended. There's a reason I haven't mentioned it yet, or explained it. I will explain everything as the story goes on, but I can't just yet as it would ruin the plot. The ending I have will be very different to the real one, and it will be slightly crazy and very unbelievable. But hey, this is fanfiction. Once again, thank you for every single review and for even reading this story. It means a lot to me.**

**On with the story!**

Sasuke closed his eyes and leant back against the wall. He was starting to get tired and the first round hadn't even finished! Dealing with Naruto for more than an hour could exhaust anyone other than Hinata. He opened his eyes again as a familiar chakra signature appeared in the box.

"Kakashi." he drawled "Where have you been?"

Naruto and Gaara noticed the intruder. Naruto turned around and glared at Kakashi.

"Hey! I've been looking for you for a whole month! You never stopped by my office and I had to deal with the council all by myself. Do you know what that did to me? I'd rather spend a week locked in a room with Sasuke than deal with the old crones!"

Sasuke ignored the small jibe. He focused on Kakashi, whose face was unreadable beneath the mask.

"I just wanted to make sure you saw the fruits of my labour."

Naruto looked completely confused.

"Eh, Kakashi-sensei, you can't go into labour. What are you talking about?"

Kakashi sighed, Sasuke rolled his eyes and even Gaara sweat-dropped.

"Dobe, he means that kid he's been training." Sasuke looked down at the small, dark haired boy. He looked a lot like a young Itachi.

"Oh, right. I forgot you were teaching Konahamaru's student. Is he good?"

Kakashi nodded.

"I've taught him a few Water Style jutsu and he's a natural at Fire Style. He knew every single Fire Style justu I could think of."

Sasuke smirked.

"Don't you think you're over exaggerating a bit? It's not like he knows Itachi's special Fire Style jutsu."

"Actually," said Kakashi casually "He does."

Sasuke whirled around to face his ex-sensei, sharingan eyes spinning.

"What do you mean he knows Itachi's jutsu? That's impossible! He's not even from this village!"

Kakashi shrugged.

"Apparently, a wandering shinobi taught him some techniques. He said he came up with Itachi's jutsu on his own."

"And you believed that?" Sasuke snarled, turning around to look at the boy. From this distance, the boy seemed like an ordinary shinobi. _What's he hiding?_

Kakashi shrugged again.

"It seemed like the only explanation. Itachi never taught anyone that jutsu and the only people with a clue how to do it are me, you Naruto and… her. He has a lot of talent so coming up with it on his own seemed reasonable enough to me."

Sasuke was in full-blown police mode now. Something wasn't right here.

"This mystery shinobi who taught him the techniques. Could it have been her?"

Kakashi shook his head.

"Nawaki described him as a middle-aged man who was retired and from Iwa. It wasn't her; otherwise he would have said something. Pink hair isn't exactly a normal trait."

"She could have used a henge." Sasuke argued. He wasn't sure how much he trusted Nawaki. Naruto was far too easy to convince, and Kakashi seemed slightly too relaxed about this.

"Nawaki said that the man lived in his village for years. She… Sakura wouldn't have stayed in disguise for that long."

Sasuke spared a second from scrutinizing Nawaki to glare at Kakashi. Sakura's name was taboo around him and Naruto. Sasuke had tried to convince himself that it was for Naruto's sake and not his.

Naruto rolled his eyes at Sasuke.

"Relax teme, the kids done nothing wrong. His entire village was slaughtered and I offered him a place to live. What's wrong with that? According to Konahamaru he's talented but not amazing enough to be suspicious about. According to Hisa, he's annoying but she thinks everyone's annoying, even me."

"I wonder how anyone could possibly find _you_ annoying." Sasuke muttered.

Everyone, even Gaara, was staring at him. He knew he was overreacting but something about Nawaki made him suspicious. Maybe it was the resemblance to Itachi on top of the Fire Style jutsu. Either way, Sasuke wasn't ready to let this go just yet.

For now, he would just sit and watch. He would judge Nawaki's abilities from the match, and possibly have the boy followed later.

!

Nawaki shook hands quickly with Lu. Shikamaru declared the start of the match and the two of them faced off.

Nawaki was the first to make a move. He needed Lu to attack him if his plan was going to work. Nawaki quickly made the hand-seals.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

A huge fireball rolled across the field, heading straight for Lu. Nawaki didn't bother looking to see if it had hit Lu. No one ever got hit by a fireball. Nawaki focused on making another seal.

Lu jumped over the fireball and ran at Nawaki. His foot whirled around and struck Nawaki straight in the head. For a second, Lu looked triumphant. Then Nawaki dissolved into a puddle of water.

"A water clone!" Lu looked around but it was too late.

Nawaki's foot came flying towards him and connected with his head. Lu was sent flying across the field, landing in a heap. Nawaki grinned. Lu was down and he wouldn't be getting back up soon. No one could be perfectly fine after getting a kick to the head.

!

Hisa groaned loudly as she watched Nawaki stand there.

"That idiot." she muttered.

"What's wrong?" Oki asked, eyeing Nawaki nervously.

"He's underestimating Lu. Look at him, he thinks that one kick was good enough. If he keeps this up he's going to lose."

Oki looked at her, confused.

"But that kick was pretty strong. If I got kicked like that I'd probably be unconscious."

Hisa shook her head.

"Lu's been training with Lee, the best taijutsu user in Konoha. One kick isn't going to cut it. Plus, Lu has another advantage. He's the underdog, and you know the number one rule in Konoha about underdogs."

Oki nodded.

"Never underestimate them."

"Exactly. That's what Nawaki's doing right now. If he doesn't take this fight more seriously, he's going to lose."

!

Nawaki grinned triumphantly. Lu was down, and there was no way he was getting back up. Nawaki had won. He heard the crowd begin to cheer and grinned wider. He imagined his mother's face, filled with pride at her son's achive-

The kick came out of nowhere. One second he was standing there. The next second he was being slammed into the wall. It hurt badly, but the pain in the back of his head was worse.

Nawaki pushed himself off the ground and looked around. Where was Lu?

Lu was standing in the middle of the field, in the classic taijutsu ready stance. Nawaki's head was spinning slightly but Lu couldn't be much better. He decided to end this fight now. He had underestimated Lu's endurance, this time he's finish it for good.

!

Hisa groaned again.

"No! No! NO! Why is he rushing at Lu like that? Does he think that Lu won't fight as good because of that one kick? Stop it Nawaki! Stop using taijutsu!"

!

Nawaki ran straight at Lu. He knew Lu was brilliant at taijutsu, but they had both suffered blows to the head. Surely Lu wouldn't be completely fine after that?

Nawaki aimed a punch at Lu's head. Lu disappeared.

Nawaki looked around wildly. How had Lu moved that fast? Where had he gone? He looked up just in time to see Lu's kick coming straight at his head.

"Leaf Hurricane!"

Nawaki barely dodged the first kick aimed at his head. The second kick was too fast to dodge, so he raised both his hands to block it. Lu's kick hit his arms. Nawaki struggled to keep his arms in place. Suddenly, he remembered Lu's second foot. But it was too late.

The kick hit him straight in the cheek. Nawaki was sent flying backwards, hitting the ground heavily. He lay there for a minute, trying to gather his thoughts. How was Lu this good? Nawaki had never seen taijutsu like this. He had heard stories from his mother about Rock Lee, but he had never imagined that people could move this fast or kick this hard. Taijutsu wouldn't work here. If he was going to beat Lu, he needed to hit him with ninjutsu.

Nawaki got to his feet again. Lu was standing in the middle of the field, once again in his taijutsu stance. This time, Nawaki didn't rush at him. He clapped his hands together in a seal.

"Water Style: Water Bomb Jutsu!"

A torrent of water began to pour out of Nawaki's mouth. It rushed straight at Lu like a giant tidal wave. He heard the spectators ooh and aah. Once the water had turned the field into a small lake, Nawaki pushed his chakra to his feet and began to water-walk. He knew Lu couldn't water-walk and the water was surrounding Lu's ankles. It mixed with the earth and became a mud-hole. It would be almost impossible for Lu to tug his feet out.

He ran straight at Lu. This time, he was certain Lu couldn't kick him. The strength needed to pull your legs out of quicksand-like mud was more than most adult shinobi had. This time-

This time, the blow was to his chin, not his cheek. Nawaki heard gasps coming from the audience but he was too busy trying to figure out what had just happened. He had ran at Lu, aimed a punch and then…? Lu had kicked him hard in the chin and sent him flying backwards. Nawaki crashed onto the ground once again, although the water eased his fall this time. How had Lu done that? Nawaki was beginning to realize that he knew nothing about Lu. He had attacked thinking he knew all Lu's strengths and weaknesses. He had not taken any time to analyse Lu and now, he was paying the price.

As he stood up, Lu rushed at him again. Nawaki had no time to think of a plan before Lu was attacking him again. Lu's kicks were so fast Nawaki's sharingan almost activated. All Nawaki could do was dodge. If Lu managed to land a kick on him, it was over.

!

Hisa sighed.

"It's over. Nawaki can't get out of there and he can't keep dodging Lu's kicks forever. Unless Lu suddenly collapses or Nawaki suddenly comes up with a miracle plan, he's doomed."

"Don't say that!" Oki said from beside her "He's Nawaki, he'll think of something."

Hisa really wished she could believe Oki, but looking down at the match, it just didn't seem possible.

!

One. Two. Three. Three kicks aimed at his head. Nawaki dodged each one, eyes desperately trying to find Lu and predict his next moves. Nawaki was getting frustrated. As well as having to dodge Lu's kicks, he now had to try and control the sharingan. Every time Lu moved too fast for Nawaki's normal eyes to trace, his sharingan would try and activate. It was distracting, too distracting.

Lu aimed a punch at Nawaki's head which he blocked with one arm. For a minute they struggled, Lu trying to break Nawaki's defense, Nawaki trying to keep Lu from doing that. Their eyes locked for a second. Nawaki was surprised to see how intense Lu's gaze was. What had Hisa said? _In the end, it all comes down to who wants it more. _Right now, Lu wanted it more.

Lu twisted suddenly, pushing Nawaki's arm over his head. Lu's elbow slammed into Nawaki's stomach. Nawaki choked, winded badly. He stumbled backwards, clutching his aching stomach. His chakra reserves were beginning to dip. He wasn't sure how much more he could stand. He was no longer thinking about how to win the match. Now it was simply about trying not to lose. He had to keep away from Lu.

Lu was once again in his taijutsu stance. This time, he didn't wait for Nawaki to attack. One second he was in the middle of the field, then he appeared behind Nawaki. _He's too fast. _Nawaki swung his fist behind him, trying to hit Lu. Lu simply jumped backwards, easily avoiding the blow.

This was it. This was Nawaki's last stand. If he got hit here, he wouldn't be getting back up. He needed to hit Lu hard and fast, to wear him down. But how could he do that? His chakra was too low for another ninjutsu. His only options were to use his sharingan or to use taijutsu. In the end, he chose taijutsu. Even if he lost, he would still be allowed stay in the village. His secret would still be safe. As much as he wanted to win, he wasn't going to betray his mother.

He ran straight at Lu, aiming two punches for his head. Lu dodged each one effortlessly. Nawaki tried a kick but Lu dodged that too. He didn't even look tired. Lu calmly raised his foot, and Nawaki knew it was over.

He raised his hands to block his face. But just like before, Lu broke through his defence. Nawaki couldn't help but yell as Lu's foot connected with his already sore jaw. Nawaki was sent flying. Lu followed him up into the air. He grabbed Nawaki's shoulders, and slammed him headfirst into the ground. Pain exploded inside Nawaki's head, and bright lights flashed in front of his eyes. He collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily.

Tears appeared in his eyes, but he blinked them away. He would not cry, not now. Even as Shikamaru declared Lu the winner, Nawaki did not cry. His parents were watching him, and he had just failed. The only thing left to do was accept defeat.

He had lost.

!

Sasuke turned away from the match. The boy was good, but he wasn't good enough. There was no need to send someone to follow him.

"I have to say Kakashi," he said "I expected more from him. Where were all the fancy techniques you said he had? All I saw were a few basic water and fire style jutsu's."

Kakashi's look made Sasuke feel slightly uncomfortable.

"He's seven years old, Sasuke. Could you do any of those jutsu at his age?"

Sasuke shrugged.

"All I'm saying is that you were right. There's no need to care about the boy, he's not special."

Kakashi turned away from Sasuke, but Sasuke could sense that he was disappointed. But the strange thing was, he didn't seem to be disappointed in Nawaki. He was acting like he was disappointed in Sasuke.

It made no sense to Sasuke, so he turned away from the boy lying in the centre of the field. Soon, he would forget about the entire match.


	29. Chapter 29

Hisa had been in a lot of awkward moments before. Most of them she created by being antisocial, but that wasn't the point. Trying to make Nawaki feel better after his confusing loss was the most awkward thing she had ever done.

To be honest, none of them had expected Nawaki to lose. Hisa couldn't explain it. It just felt like he was supposed to win, the two of them were supposed to make it to the finals and then they were supposed to have an epic duel. Simply because he was _Nawaki._

Instead, Nawaki had been knocked out in the first round, and now his three teammates were completely confused about what to do. Nawaki was just sitting there, staring off into space. It all felt so _wrong. _To them, Nawaki was the good guy, and Lu was just a random opponent. If this was a book, Nawaki would have made a fantastic comeback and won the match. But sadly, this was life, not a story. Lu had simply been better.

Oki was the first one to try and cheer him up. She went over to him and gave him a hug. He gave her a small smile, but after that he relapsed into silence. She went back to where Hisa and Konahamaru were waiting.

"I don't know what to say." she said "I never expected him to lose, I'm not even sure _how _he lost."

Konahamaru was next in line to try. He went over and sat beside Nawaki. For a minute, they sat in silence, until Konahamaru spoke up.

"You did good Nawaki." he said "There are worse ways to lose. You put up a great fight, and it wasn't your fault that you lost."

"It was." Nawaki said dully, speaking for the first time since his defeat. "I underestimated Lu, and I didn't even try to find his strengths and weaknesses. I was careless."

"Okay, so it sort of was your fault." Konahamaru admitted "But you're only seven, there'll be plenty of other exams. You can try again in six months. You know, Naruto didn't become a chunin on his first try."

"Naruto's Exam was cancelled because Orochimaru attacked. Look, I lost. I've accepted that. Next time I go into the Exams, I'll be better prepared."

Konahamaru nodded approvingly.

"That's the spirit! Six months will pass before you know it."

"I'm not entering in six months." Nawaki said "In fact, I doubt I'll enter for at least two years. I'm too young and inexperienced. I learnt that today."

"Eh, maybe I'll talk to you later about this!" Konahamaru left quickly. Nawaki was giving off very depressing vibes.

He made his way back to the others and shook his head sadly.

"He's still really depressed." he explained "He's talking about not entering for a few years. Someone needs to snap him out of it."

Both Oki and Konahamaru turned to look at Hisa.

"What? Are you joking?"

They stared at her. She sighed.

"Fine, I'll give it a shot."

She walked over to Nawaki.

"Uh…"

He didn't even look up.

"Whatever you're going to say won't help."

She shrugged and walked back to the others.

"I tried." she said.

!

Although Sakura had remained calm throughout the entire fight, Kakashi could tell she was nervous. He had decided not to tell her about Sasuke's reaction to the match. It was better if neither she nor Nawaki knew about it.

"Are you disappointed he lost?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"Of course not. He did great, did you see those jutsu? I'm just worried about how he's feeling. He's probably very upset and disappointed in himself. Nawaki doesn't like to lose in front of me."

"So go talk to him." Kakashi suggested.

She looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Oh that's a great idea! I'll just walk up into the out-of-bounds competitors area and ask to speak to Nawaki. 'Oh by the way he's my son!" Yeah that'll go down great."

Kakashi sighed.

"I meant after the exam. Don't leave straight away, stay for a day or two and talk to him. He'll need you."

She sighed.

"I really wish I could. I'll stay for a day, but that's all. Can you try and arrange a place for us to meet?"

Kakashi nodded.

"I think I can manage that."

!

Round Two: **Hisa Uzumaki vs Hizashi Hyuga.**

Fate _really _had it out for Team Seven today.

Hisa wasn't like Obito and Naruto. She hadn't inherited Naruto's ability to solve everyone's problems through fighting them. So when Hizashi started whining and demanded to know why Obito had quit, Hisa decided to be brutally honest.

"Neji sacrificed himself to save Naruto and Hinata. If it wasn't for your dad Obito and I wouldn't exist. Tenten didn't tell you because she thought you would hold a grudge against my parents for living, even though it wasn't their fault. Neji was a hero, not a useless shinobi. So stop blaming your own problems on him and get over yourself."

With that, she punched him in the face and knocked him unconscious.

When she got back up to the balcony, Obito and Oki were waiting for her. Nawaki was talking with Kakashi, so he didn't notice her. Oki just sighed and shook her head, but there was a smile on her face. Obito was a little bit sterner.

"I don't really like your method of 'dealing' with Hizashi, but I hope it worked. Didn't Dad tell you that beating people up won't help them?"

Hisa shrugged.

"It works whenever Naruto does it. Don't you remember that time he fought the missing-nin? After ten minutes of fighting the shinobi agreed to return to his village and mend the problem in his family. Besides, Hizashi is Tenten's kid, not mine. She can deal with him once he wakes up."

Obito sighed, but he looked slightly proud. She looked at him curiously

"That was a good punch." he muttered "Really, you managed to knock him out with one blow. I feel like I won't have to worry about you when you get older."

Hisa rolled her eyes, but she smiled slightly.

!

"Firstly, Sakura said that she's proud of you and she thought your jutsu were amazing."

Nawaki was surprised.

"You talked to her?"

Kakashi nodded.

"She's staying in the village for a day. She wants to meet up with you after the exams. Do you know the secret room in the Hokage monument? She'll meet you there."

Nawaki nodded. Even though he had lost, the thought of seeing his mother again made him happy. He hadn't seen her since the start of the exams.

!

Round Three/Semi-finals: **Hiza Uzumaki vs Lu Ten.**

Well this was awkward.

Lu was good, but he was no Lee. He had used up a lot of his energy fighting Nawaki, so he had been slower in his second match against Karura. Still, for a boy with very little ninjutsu, he had done well to get this far.

The match started fairly slowly. Lu was still good with his taijutsu, but his obvious fatigue plus Hisa's advantage with the Rinnegan meant that she was able to track his movements. Although Lu was tired, his kicks still hurt, as Hisa painfully found out.

After five minutes of pure taijutsu, Hisa was getting bored. She hadn't used her special kunai yet, since she decided to save them for the finals. That left her Rinnegan.

Lu jumped at her with a "Yosh!" aiming a kick at her face. She calmly stuck out her hand and said\;

"Almighty Push!"

Lu went flying into the already battered wall. He hit it with a sickening crack and didn't get up. Hisa began to panic, until the medic-nin confirmed he was alive. Shikamaru declared her the winner.

She did her best to stay away from Nawaki. She wasn't mean enough to gloat about beating Lu right in front of him. Besides, Lu had been twice as energetic while facing Nawaki. Hisa was lucky and she knew it.

She watched the other semi-final: Naruko vs Shikai. To Hisa's frustration, Naruko still hadn't used her kekkei genkai. She had won all her matches through pure taijutsu and the basic three techniques. For a while, Naruko and Shikai played a game of strategy, using clones and substitutions to outsmart each other. However, Naruko had the larger chakra reserve, so after half an hour Shikai forfeited declaring the match 'Too troublesome.' Hisa could almost hear Temari groan at her son's new catchphrase.

Hisa had her own problems. She was against Naruko in the final. For some reason, Naruko had been holding back and hadn't killed a single opponent. Hisa didn't know if it would last. There was a very good chance this would become a fight to the death.

She made her way down to the field (by jumping off the balcony of course). Naruko was already waiting for her. As they shook hands, Hisa tried not to shiver. Naruko's stare was cold and intense.

"I'm going to kill you." Naruko whispered softly.

_Well, we're off to a good start. _Hisa thought.

"Good luck with that." she whispered back "Try not to cry too hard when you lose."

Naruko's stare got even colder. She scowled at Hisa before stepping back. Hisa noticed that she was carrying a gourd with her. It was a tied around her waist, and nowhere near as big as the Kazekage's one. Still, Hisa had a bad feeling about that gourd.

!

"Heh, who would have guessed it Gaara? Your kid versus mine in the final. Are you sure you don't want to hand over the money now?"

Gaara kept his eyes on Naruko. Naruto didn't know this, but he was searching for signs of bloodlust. Naruko generally got stiffer and her hands started twitching when she wanted to kill someone. Gaara didn't think Naruto would like it if Naruko killed his daughter. It definitely wouldn't help the bond between the villages.

"I'm worried." he explained to Naruto "Naruko brought her gourd onto the field, that generally means she's going to go overboard."

Naruto didn't look impressed.

"So she's got a jar of dirt. Big deal. You have one too and I still beat you."

"No Naruto , you see-"

Naruto wasn't listening. He was too busy singing.

"Gaara's got a jar of dirt! He's got a jar of dirt…"

Gaara looked at Sasuke. Sasuke quickly stepped forward and whacked Naruto on the head. Naruto stopped singing and glared at Sasuke.

"Hey! You can't just hit the Hokage, I could have you arrested for that!"

Sasuke didn't even pretend to care.

"Dobe, I'm in charge of the police. I'm not going to arrest myself."

"Yeah well…" Naruto flopped back in his seat with a scowl. "Stupid teme."

!

Shikamaru declared the start of the match. He would have laughed if it wasn't too troublesome. Finally, his job was done. He could relax and play a game of shogi with Temari.

Hisa watched Naruko carefully. Naruko was standing in the centre of the field, arms crossed, looking like she was waiting for something. It was up to Hisa to make the first move.

She ran forward, fist raised. Naruko watched her run, but didn't move. Hisa waited until she was close enough before swinging her fist. It should have hit Naruko straight in the head. Instead, it hit something that was as hard as metal. Hisa heard a clang and felt pain shoot up her arm. She quickly jumped backwards before Naruko could counterattack. Naruko didn't move, just continued to glare at Hisa.

Hisa touched her hand delicately. It hurt like hell, but it didn't appear to be broken. She looked up at Naruko, searching for the thing that had connected with her hand. There was nothing there. The only thing that was different was that the lid of the gourd was open.

Hisa knew she should save her strength, but she needed to find out what she was up against. She needed to attack from a distance so that she could see Naruko's defense.

"Almighty Push!" she yelled.

She saw the wave of chakra rush straight at Naruko. Just as it was about to hit her, a mass of dark gray dust erupted from the gourd. It swarmed around Naruko and formed a shield. As the chakra wave hit it, it hardened on impact. Hisa heard the same clang as before, it sounded like metal.

"What is that?" she asked as the dust cleared.

"This is my grandfather's kekkei genkai. The Fourth Kazekage had the Magnet Release. This jutsu is my own version of the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand Jutsu." Naruko stated it all in a dull monotone.

"Oh," Hisa said "Well, thanks for telling me."

Naruko shrugged.

"It's not like you can defeat me. This jutsu can be used to attack and defend. You don't stand a chance."

"We'll see about that." Hisa muttered.

She pulled out her special kunai. She hadn't quite mastered the jutsu, but it was good enough.

It was time for her secret weapon.


	30. Chapter 30

Nawaki tried not to feel jealous when Hisa went down to fight Naruko, but he couldn't help it. Of course Hisa Uzumaki, daughter of Naruto and the second Sage of Six Paths would make it to the final. Who was he compared to her? All Konoha saw was her orphan teammate, not from any important clan. Not for the first time, Nawaki wished he could use his sharingan. If he could fight Hisa with it, they would be on equal terms. But he wouldn't reveal his secret, because it wasn't just about him.

He still couldn't help feel irritated throughout the tournament. He was better than half the people who had made it to the second round. He had just had the bad luck to fight a very good opponent for the first round. Next time, he would make sure he was the best, not just one of the best.

But for now, he would cheer Hisa on. At least if Hisa won, it meant Naruko hadn't. That girl gave Nawaki the creeps. Even without his sharingan, he could sense her bloodlust. The fact that she was five years old made it even worse. Nawaki laughed when he realised that the two finalists were five and six years old, respectively. This was probably one of the strangest Chunin Exams in history.

He looked up and saw Oki leaning over the balcony, cheering for Hisa. She hadn't exactly won her match either, yet she was still happy for her teammate. She noticed him looking at her and smiled, beckoning him towards her. He went to stand beside her and cheered for his teammate.

!

Hisa swore as she dodged yet another of Naruko's iron spikes. Ever since Naruko had revealed her jutsu, she had been trying to stab Hisa non-stop. Hisa didn't have any time to think of a counterattack, or even to figure out the limit to Naruko's power. The only thing she had done was stick a special kunai into the ground. She hadn't had time to even think about using it.

The Magnet Release was a very powerful kekkei genkai, and could be used in many different ways. Hisa's strategy all depended on how much Naruko could do. If she could magnetize anything she touched, then Hisa was in trouble. Most of her weapons were metallic, including her special kunai. Hisa didn't know much about the Magnet Release. She would have to learn as the match went on.

As Naruko aimed yet another spike at her, she tried to think of a plan. Naruko's main flaw was her arrogance. She seemed to think that the one jutsu was enough to take down Hisa. The Iron Sand jutsu was a strong one, but if it was the only strong jutsu Naruko knew, then Hisa had a chance.

Naruko paused in her attack to observe Hisa. She looked at Hisa expectantly.

"Are you going to quit or do I kill you?" she asked.

Hisa didn't answer her. She threw two shuriken straight at Naruko. Would Naruko's sand block it or would she use a different Magnet jutsu? Naruko's sand came up and blocked it. Naruko herself looked utterly bored, unaware that she had just given Hisa information. Hisa knew now that if Naruko had any other Magnet Release jutsu, she preferred to use her Iron Sand. That meant that Hisa's kunai and shuriken were safe for the moment.

Hisa ran straight at Naruko. The next step was to see how quickly Naruko could react. Naruko's sand wasn't like Gaara's. It didn't move unless Naruko willed it to. That meant that it was slower than Gaara's sand.

But it was still fast enough to almost kill Hisa as she ran. Naruko sent a giant spike straight at her. Hisa jumped into the air, keeping her eyes on Naruko. Hisa had heard of special magnetic shuriken that could magnetize anything they touched. She had already touched the sand, so she really hoped that Naruko hadn't learnt how to do that.

While she was in the air, Hisa threw another two shuriken. She was hoping that Naruko would use another jutsu to block them. No such luck: the sand came up faster than before and blocked the two shuriken.

Hisa took advantage of the distraction to aim a kick at Naruko's head. The sand came up almost instantaneously. Naruko struck back then, creating a giant wave of metallic sand. Hisa quickly jumped backwards to avoid it. Naruko's sand was fast, but it couldn't follow her everywhere. Hisa ran at Naruko again. She aimed two kicks at Naruko to distract her. While the sand was busy blocking the kicks, Hisa jumped up and threw four punches. The sand blocked each and every one of them. While Hisa was busy throwing punches, the sand surrounded her and sharpened. She jumped out of the way just as the spikes converged on the spot she had been standing on. Hisa couldn't help shuddering slightly; she had just avoided death by an inch.

She jumped back in, quickly aiming another kick for Naruko's head. The sand blocked it of course, but Hisa could see Naruko was getting fed up of being on the defensive. She was going to attack Hisa again.

Naruko formed three giant iron spikes and shot them after Hisa. Hisa ran for her life. The first spike slammed into the ground directly behind her. It was heavy enough to send tremors shooting through the ground. Hisa ducked the second spike and it slammed into the wall, creating a web of cracks. The third spike tried to smash down on her, but she managed to jump out of the way. She paused for a second to catch her breath, when she noticed that Naruko was unguarded. She had used too much of her dust for the spikes, and now there wasn't enough to shield her completely. Hisa ran straight at her, kicking and punching like a madwoman. Naruko's shield blocked most of the assault, but one kick managed to get through. It hit Naruko in the face and sent her flying. Naruko crashed to the ground, stunned that Hisa had managed to hit her.

The rest of the stadium looked stunned as well. Naruko had claimed that her defence was impossible to breach. Hisa smirked slightly, Naruko looked pretty stupid now.

Naruko sat on the ground for a minute. Hisa waited for her to get up and attack, but nothing happened. Usually, you were supposed to wait for your opponent to get back up, but Hisa had never understood why people did that. They were shinobi, did good sportsmanship really matter?

She ran behind Naruko, aiming a punch at her head. If she hit hard enough, hopefully it would knock Naruko unconscious. Just as she was about to punch, Naruko stuck out her hand. Hisa cried out in surprise as her whole body jerked to the side. Her punch missed Naruko's face completely.

Naruko was on her feet now, looking at Hisa with murderous glee. Hisa was on the ground, trying to figure out what had happened. Naruko had stuck out her hand and Hisa had… Hisa froze when she realised fully what had happened. Naruko was smirking down at her.

"So you've finally figured it out." she gloated "Honestly, were you really stupid enough to believe that the Iron Sand was all I could do with my kekkei genkai? Every time you touched my sand, I magnetized your body a little more. Now, I can draw you towards me at any time I like."

Hisa could only watch as Naruko stuck out her hand again. She felt her body jerk and suddenly she was flying through the air. Naruko grabbed her throat and slammed her onto the ground. Slowly, Naruko climbed on top of her and wrapped both hands around Hisa's throat. Hisa was terrified. She wasn't scared about the prospect of dying, but the look on Naruko's face of pure longing petrified her. This five year old girl was looking forward to killing Hisa, and that was just awful.

Naruko's hands tightened and Hisa began to choke. She moved her head from side to side. Her eyes landed on the special kunai she had stuck into the ground at the start of the match. Before Naruko had started her first attack, Hisa had filled the kunai almost to the brim with chakra. Her mind was starting to get foggy from lack of oxygen, but she could still sense her chakra lying in the kunai. Naruko hadn't noticed the kunai at all throughout the match.

Hisa slowly pushed her chakra down her right arm. When it reached her fingertips, she sent it across the field, to where the kunai was. As soon as the kunai felt full, she yanked her chakra out.

The effect was instantaneous. One second Naruko was choking her, the next second she was lying on the ground halfway across the field. Her right arm felt like it was on fire, but she was alive.

She used her left hand to push herself to her feet. The look on Naruko's face was priceless. She looked at Hisa, then at her empty hands, then back to Hisa. Finally, she noticed the kunai and her eyes narrowed.

"You know how to teleport." she stated.

Hisa was busy pushing the last of her chakra into the kunai. She knew what Naruko was going to do next, and she needed the kunai to be ready.

"Yes, I can teleport. Thank you Captain Obvious."

Naruko frowned.

"If you want obvious then fine. Your kunai is made of metal, I can magnetize and-to a lesser degree-control metal. What does that make your kunai? Useless."

Naruko stuck out her hand and pulled the kunai out of the ground. The kunai shot forward and landed in Naruko's hand.

"I think I'll keep this after I kill you. It's a pretty kunai."

Hisa grinned. Naruko had done exactly as she had expected. The kunai that was filled with chakra was now in Naruko's hand. Naruko herself was completely unaware that the kunai was almost full. If she had known, she would have dropped it and ran but as she didn't…

Hisa pushed the last of her chakra into the kunai, then pulled it out using the chakra in her left hand. She had just enough time to stick her leg out before she had teleported across to Naruko. Hisa saw a brief flicker of shock in Naruko's eyes before her foot connected with Naruko's head. Naruko fell to the ground, but Hisa wasn't finished. If she gave Naruko any time to recover, she would lose the match. She had to end this now.

Hisa reached down and slammed her hand onto Naruko's chest.

"Almighty Push!" she yelled.

The force of the chakra wave pushed Naruko two feet deeper into the ground. Naruko's eyes bulged and she coughed once, before her eyes rolled back in her head. The push had broken at least three of her ribs, and possibly damaged her lungs. The pain was enough to knock Naruko unconscious.

Shikamaru strolled across the field. Once he had confirmed that Naruko was really unconscious, he grabbed Hisa's hand and raised it into the air.

"The winner: Hisa Uzumaki!"

The crowd exploded into cheers, although there were a few grumbles from Suna shinobi. Medics rushed onto the field and swarmed over Naruko. Hisa looked up to where her teammates were watching. Nawaki and Oki were cheering and clapping, Obito was shaking his head and smiling proudly and Kawa, who had just been released from the hospital, was grinning like a maniac. A warm feeling appeared in Hisa's gut, and it only intensified when she saw her father jumping up and down and her mother clapping quietly with a huge smile on her face. For the first time in quite a while, Hisa didn't mind being the centre of attention. For the first time ever, she felt proud of her Rinnegan.

!

Naruto grinned as Gaara signed the cheque.

"Thank you kindly, Lord Kazekage. Your generous donation will pay for at least ten more ramen stands and possibly a new swimming pool."

Gaara was wearing his old psychopathic genin face. Sasuke was slightly worried about Naruto's safety.

"I'm glad to know the money will be spent well. My original plan was to use it to build a new home for elderly retired shinobi in Suna but I'm sure a swimming pool for Konoha is _just _as important."

Naruto shrugged.

"Maybe not the swimming pool but the world definitely needs more ramen stands."

Gaara's sand was swirling menacingly so Sasuke thought it best to get Naruto out of there.

!

Nawaki smiled happily as Hisa climbed back onto the balcony. Oki gave her a huge hug and Obito clapped her on the shoulder. She hugged them back before standing in front of Nawaki. Nawaki could see she was nervous, she didn't know how he was going to react.

He stepped forward and gently pulled her into a hug.

"Congratulations." he said "You were amazing."

She smiled up at him, a genuine happy smile that was very rare on Hisa.

"Thanks." she said quietly "It means a lot to hear that from you."

Nawaki smiled. He was about to say something else but Hisa was ripped from his arms.

"Hisa, that was amazing! That last bit where you used the teleportation jutsu twice in a row looked so hard! How are you feeling? Are you hurt?"

They all laughed and Hisa rolled her eyes before answering Kawa.

"My arms feel like they're on fire but I'm too happy to care. How did you get out of the hospital so quickly?"

As Kawa began to reply, Nawaki Oki and Obito moved away to give them some privacy. Obito was frowning thoughtfully at Kawa. Nawaki wasn't sure why, but he would have time to find out. He may not become a chunin today, but at least he was staying in Konoha. His fears of being found out were finally receding. Sasuke had seen him today hadn't he? There were no police men surrounding him, which meant that Sasuke hadn't figured it out. He was safe to stay in Konoha, safe to build a bigger and deeper identity and safe to see his mother soon.

His thoughts moved back to the exam. He meant what he said when he said he wouldn't enter for a few years. He needed time to train harder and to get stronger. He didn't want to lose again.

He smiled when he felt Oki take his hand.

"The jackets won't be presented for a few hours. Do you want to get some ramen?"

He smiled and nodded.

"What about Hisa?"

They both turned and looked to where Hisa was talking with Kawa. She looked happier then Nawaki had ever seen her and was laughing at something Kawa had said.

Oki smiled.

"I think she'll be fine here. Let's go, just the two of us."

Nawaki's smile got bigger. He gripped her hand firmly and they began to walk down the stairs. Nawaki never thought he would feel this happy after losing, but right now he felt content.

This was his home.

**A/N Finally, the Chunin Exam Arc has ended! I know the ending sucked but I didn't know how else to finish it. To be honest, this arc was a pain to write. It was basically fight scene after fight scene. I hope I didn't do too badly, but I wasn't very happy with it myself.**

**There will be a timeskip of a few years in the next chapter, otherwise the story would have just dragged on. Thanks again for all the reviews. I appreciate every one of them.**


	31. Chapter 31

"Rasengan!"

Nawaki's arm shook as he slammed the glowing orb into the tree. The chakra cut into the palm of his hand, but they were only minor scratches. The dust from the tree covered him like a small cloud. When the dust cleared, there was a deep dent in the tree. The spiral pattern was nowhere near perfect, but at least the tree hadn't blown up. Nawaki's previous attempts at the Rasengan had caused quite a bit of damage to the local forest.

Behind him, he heard clapping. Hisa, Oki and Obito were sitting on various logs that formed a small campsite/picnic area. Obito and Oki were clapping, and Hisa looked impressed.

"Not bad." was all she said.

Obito was a bit more enthusiastic.

"You've almost got it Nawaki, you just need to work on holding it better so that it doesn't cut you. The spiral pattern is a bit choppy but it'll still work on an enemy." He grinned and shook his head in disbelief. "I remember the good old days when I was the only kid who could do the Rasengan. Now you, Oki and I can all do it." He turned and grinned at Hisa. "Don't worry Hisa, it's probably best if you don't try and learn it. Remember what happened to Mom's kitchen last time you tried it?"

Hisa had grown in the three years that had passed. Her dark blue hair fell to her waist, and she wore her chunin jacket over her fake ANBU gear. She was still the smallest person on the team, much to her annoyance and Nawaki's amusement. She had also grown mentally. Three years ago, she would have scowled and pushed Obito off his log for the comment. Now, she smiled.

And then she pushed him off the log.

Nawaki smiled slightly as Obito and Hisa chased each other around the campsite, while Oki looked on in amusement. Oki had grown too, although the changes were not as obvious. Her hair was long like it had always been and her skin was still paler than normal. She wore the fake ANBU gear like Hisa, except she wasn't wearing a chunin jacket.

Nawaki had changed too. He was dressed like Oki: Fake ANBU gear and no chunin jacket. His hair had grown so long he had started tying it back. Apparently, this made him look even more like Itachi. When Sasuke had told him this one time, he had barely contained his laughter. Sasuke had been visiting Naruto, and the three of them had been hanging out. Sasuke had stared at Nawaki for a few unnerving minutes. Nawaki had been slightly scared that Sasuke had put two and two together, but he had just commented on Nawaki's resemblance to Itachi.

Other than that incident, Nawaki had spent three peaceful years in Konoha. He had bumped into Sasuke a few times, and he still felt uncomfortable being in his father's presence. He had gotten used to his double identity, and they had begun to merge into one. His old identity, of being the son of Sasuke Uchiha, seemed more like a distant past to him. His new identity as Nawaki Hachino was slowly becoming his true identity. His mother was overjoyed, it was what she had wanted when he first came to Konoha. She had wanted him to have a life where he was free of labels. Here, he was able to create his own identity.

He still saw his mother every time they had an overnight mission outside the village, which was about once every three weeks. At first, it hadn't been enough to satisfy him but he had slowly gotten used to the separation. Although his mother was still the most important person in his life, Hisa, Oki and Konahamaru had become like family to him.

Another thing that had helped the loneliness was the Third Hokage's crystal ball, which Nawaki had finally gotten to work. To activate it, you needed to know the chakra pattern of the person you wanted to see. He had been curious when he had first learnt this from Konahamaru, remembering the time when he had accidently spied on Sasuke. Did that mean that he had the same chakra pattern as Sasuke?

Nawaki still had a lot of questions, and sometimes Naruto or Hisa would say something that confused him. Usually it would be about the war, and the end. Nawaki had never heard the full details about the end of the war; his mother had always been silent on that topic. 'Another time Nawaki.' was what she had always said. It was becoming harder not to demand answers.

He was drawn out of his thoughts by someone snapping their fingers in front of his face.

"Earth to Nawaki?" Oki asked.

Hisa and Obito had stopped fighting and were staring at him. He realised that he had been staring of into space for at least five minutes.

"Sorry," he mumbled "I just got caught in a daydream."

"Are you sure it wasn't a genjutsu?" Hisa asked sharply, looking around the campsite.

They were some way away from Konoha, and it was very possible that rogue shinobi were hiding in the woods. The sky was staring to get dark, and soon they would have to be back in the village, or Naruto would start to worry.

"I'm sure." he said firmly "It was just a daydream. Let's start heading back."

Hisa looked like she was about to protest but Obito spoke up.

"He's right, Dad will freak if we're not back soon. Them Mom will get worried and when we come back she'll get angry and then…"

There was no need for him to finish. The prospect of an angry Hinata was terrifying enough to get Hisa moving.

As the four of them headed back towards the village gates, Nawaki ran his fingers through his hair. He had dyed it two weeks ago, and the colour was beginning to fade. He would need to dye it again soon. There had been one incident last year where Oki had seen pink streaks in his hair but he had pretended it was paint.

They reached the village just as the sun went down. Obito spotted Kawa and Toruko and went off to join them. The other three made their way slowly through the village. Nawaki was slightly hungry but the ramen shop had just closed for the night. He had some onigiri at home, but he was in the mood for some ramen. Maybe he could go over to Hisa's house. Hinata made some of the best ramen in Konoha.

He was once again jolted out of his thoughts. This time, it was because of the giant puff of smoke that had appeared. When the smoke cleared, Konahamaru was standing in front of them. He had an unusually serious expression on his face.

"Why can you never just walk up to us?" Oki asked, coughing on the smoke "Or even better, use the Body Flicker. Seriously, the smoke isn't cool or mysterious anymore."

Konahamaru ignored her. Nawaki wondered why his sensei looked so worried,

"You've got a mission." he announced "The Hokage wants all of us in his office immediately."

"Does he now?" Hisa grumbled "Well you can tell him I said no thanks. He can tell me at home."

She was about to leave when Konahamaru spoke again.

"He says if you don't come he's giving your room to Obito and making you sleep in the basement."

She sighed, but followed them to the office.

Naruto was waiting inside. Nawaki noticed that he too looked more serious than normal. He also looked tired, like he had had one to many late nights.

"Team 7." Naruto said wearily "I have a mission for you. A dangerous missing-nin has been sighted near Konoha. I've already got one shinobi going after the rogue, so I'm sending you guys as backup. You'll meet at the gates tomorrow morning. I'll give Konahamaru the mission details. Any questions?"

Oki raised her hand.

"Why did you pick us for this mission? Two of us are still genin."

Naruto opened his mouth to explain but Hisa cut across him.

"It's because I have the Rinnegan, right?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Actually, it's because you're the only team available."

Nawaki and Oki sniggered as Hisa flushed. Naruto dismissed them to save her further embarrassment.

Konahamaru poofed away, as per usual. Hisa waved goodbye before heading off to the living area of the Hokage building. Oki and Nawaki strolled home. Nawaki's apartment was en route to Oki's house, so the two of them often walked home together.

"So, who do you think is going on this mission with us?" Nawaki asked.

Oki shrugged.

"It could be anyone, probably some random shinobi that we don't know. I don't mind as long as it's not Sai or Ino."

Nawaki winced, remembering the time they had gone on a mission with Ino. When everyone had fallen asleep, she had grilled him for three hours on what Sakura had been up to all these years. Then she proceeded to tell him all the embarrassing stories she could think of about his parents. The last part had been fun, but Ino had kept him up all night long. The next day, he had fallen asleep while fighting and almost got stabbed in the neck with a kunai. Luckily, Hisa had saved him and knocked the enemy out. But she had given him such a hard time afterwards he almost wished he had taken the kunai instead.

"Yeah," he agreed "No Sai or Ino. Or Choji, because that was just awkward."

Oki nodded in agreement. They had reached his apartment building. She gave him a quick hug before taking off towards her own house. Nawaki watched her until she was out of sight. He unlocked the front door of his apartment and walked inside.

He still didn't consider this place his home. He slept here, and he ate here when he couldn't afford to buy food from a stand, but it was still bare and empty. There was no feeling of home, nothing personal to show who's apartment it was. Nawaki was too busy with missions to think about decorating. He didn't have the money to anyways. It didn't really matter to him, as he spent most of his time with his team. He considered Oki's house and-more recently- Hisa's house to be home.

He threw himself down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Today was the day he had done the Rasengan. True, it wasn't perfect by a long shot, but it still made him feel proud. Now he was ready to get a summoning contract, and then he could learn how to do shadow-clones. Then maybe if he was ready, he and Oki would enter the chunin exams.

Nawaki dozed off, planning his various training steps. He had been training almost as hard as Hisa since the Chunin Exams. There had been a few months where he had done nothing but train. His friends had watched, worried for his health. Eventually, they had an intervention and Nawaki agreed not to devote himself too much towards training.

The next morning, Nawaki woke with the sunrise, a habit he had always had. Breakfast was rushed, as he was in a hurry to get to the gates. Naruto had told them to meet in the morning, but he hadn't given a specific time. Seeing as they would be working with another shinobi, Nawaki wanted to make a good impression.

It took him roughly about twenty minutes to get to the gates. He spent the time thinking about the mission. Naruto had mentioned a missing-nin, but he hadn't given any details. Konahamaru usually provided the details at the start of the mission, but his sensei had seemed a bit preoccupied yesterday.

He noticed Konahamaru as he neared the gates. He was conversing with a shinobi who Nawaki assumed would be going on the mission with them. He was too far away to get a close look at the man. He looked around, there was no sign of Hisa or Oki. Nawaki sighed, hoping they wouldn't be too long.

He reached the two men, lost in his thoughts. He barely noticed as Konahamaru introduced them.

"Sasuke, you remember Nawaki right? He's one of the best genin in Konoha."

Nawaki murmured a greeting, before his head shot up. Did Konahamaru say Sasuke?

Standing in front of him, looking as cold as always, was Sasuke Uchiha.

Nawaki gulped. This mission just got ten times more complicated.


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N Someone asked if Nawaki will run away and become a missing-nin with Sakura. Right now, he is completely happy in Konoha and Sakura is happy for him. The only reason he would leave is if Sasuke found out or if Sakura tells him to. So for the moment, no, he won't become a missing-nin.**

**I know I say this every time but thanks again for the reviews.**

It took Hisa and Oki two hours to show up. Two very uncomfortable hours. Konahamaru whipped out the new Hatake version of Icha Icha, which left Sasuke and Nawaki with nothing to do. Sakura had told him that Sasuke was cold and slightly anti-social, but Nawaki realised that she had been under exaggerating. Sasuke did nothing but _glare _at him, as if he expected Nawaki to whip out a bomb and destroy Konoha at any second. Nawaki didn't really feel like making conversation, so he went over to a small clearing of trees to practise. At first, he tried doing some taijutsu but Sasuke kept staring at him. It made him nervous and he ended up making mistakes. In the end, he got so frustrated he made a Rasengan and destroyed the tree. When he looked back, Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him which made him feel even more embarrassed. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what. What were you supposed to say to the man who was your father but didn't know it?

Luckily, Hisa and Oki showed up soon after. Once they had all gathered, Konahamaru explained the mission.

"It's pretty simple. There's a dangerous missing-nin wandering near Konoha. Our orders are to subdue and capture the shinobi, but not to kill. Only kill if the situation is extreme, got it?"

The three of them nodded. Nawaki was slightly worried.

"How dangerous is the missing-nin?" he asked. If Sasuke Uchiha was leading the mission, then Nawaki guessed that this ninja must be S-Rank.

Konahamaru's face went dark.

"This missing-nin is one of the most dangerous shinobi alive. Most people underestimate her because she's a woman, but she can kill you in ten different ways before you can blink. Normally, it would be a kill-on-sight kind of mission but she's from Konoha and Naruto wants to give her a chance. If we do find her, let Sasuke handle it. If things look bad I'll intervene. Only if both of us are in trouble do you three enter the fight. Understand?"

The three of them nodded again. They each grabbed their camping packs and set off. Sasuke led the way, talking to Konahamaru in a low voice. The other three fell slightly behind.

They had developed a system over the years. When they were on missions like this, Oki and Nawaki would chatter away about trivial things. Hisa would occasionally comment, but stayed silent for most of the journey.

Today however, Nawaki was preoccupied. He was too busy worrying about tonight. His mother was supposed to come and see him, but what would happen if Sasuke woke up? Should they risk it? Why was she so against Sasuke knowing? What had happened all those years ago? Nawaki sighed. He often wondered how his mother and father felt about each other. Usually, when his mother talked about Sasuke, she spoke in a detached tone. She never showed any emotion towards Sasuke other than slight nostalgia. It was getting harder not to demand answers, but part of Nawaki wasn't sure if he wanted to find out.

He loved going on missions outside Konoha, for more reasons than one. When you had the Sharingan, you learnt how to _see._ Summer was almost here, and the sun was shining brightly, casting long shadows across the trees. The sky was bright blue, not a cloud in sight. Not many birds were chirping, but Nawaki spotted a stray thrush hopping through the grass. The wildlife had long since gotten used to shinobi passing through their habitat. Nawaki idly wondered if Naruto would open the swimming pool again this year. Ever since the pool had been built, the amount of tourists flocking to Konoha had risen by at least 10%.

He decided he had done enough worrying. He'd try and come up with a plan tonight. For now, he'd just enjoy the mission.

He fell back to where Oki and Hisa were discussing the Rinnegan. Hisa had opened three paths so far: the Deva Path, the Animal Path and the Preta Path. She had mastered the Deva Path, although Naruto still wouldn't let her do a Planetary Devastation, and she was good at using the Animal Path. She had only opened the Preta Path a few months ago, and was still learning how to absorb chakra. Nawaki listened in on their conversation.

"I'm just saying, why not open the other paths? The Rinnegan is natural for you, I doubt you'll hurt anyone."

"It's not that, it's just… the other paths creep me out. I don't want the power over life and death, or to turn my body into mechanical armour and I definitely don't want to summon the King of Hell. I'm happy with just the three paths."

Oki shrugged.

"Hey, they're your eyes. Your right anyway, the King of Hell _is _creepy."

Nawaki was about to ask how she knew what the King of Hell looked like but Konahamaru interrupted them.

"The King of Hell? I fought him when I was twelve! I have to say, he was a tough opponent but no match for me! It was summoned by Pain's Naraka Path, but I took him down with a Rasengan…"

Nawaki sighed. It was going to be a long trip.

!

They stopped walking sometime in the afternoon. They gathered round Sasuke as he explained the plan.

"This missing-nin has been spotted lurking in this area. Everybody spread out and search, I'll give you all earpieces so that you can stay in contact. If you see anything suspicious, contact myself or Konahamaru immediately. Do _not _attempt to contact or communicate with the enemy until we arrive. We'll meet back here when the sky starts turning red. Understood?"

They nodded. Hisa put up her hand.

"How will we know if she's the missing-nin. What does she look like?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to reply, then his eyes locked with Nawaki. Something changed in Sasuke's eyes, something Nawaki didn't understand.

"You'll know who she is when you see her. Besides, I said report _anything _suspicious. Every missing-nin captured saves innocent lives."

Hisa nodded. The three of them grabbed their earpieces and moved out.

Once he was a safe distance away from the rest of his team, Nawaki activated his sharingan. The only time he felt safe using it was when he was alone and out of Konoha. He quickly found a small circle of trees. Some of the branches had been cut off, leaving plenty of stumps that would make good targets. He grabbed a brace of shuriken from his pouch, before jumping into the air and spinning upside down. His sharingan spun, keeping track of where the targets were. He threw the shuriken, satisfied when he heard them stick into the wood. He landed on the ground and stood there for a few seconds, breathing heavily. When he had caught his breath, he looked up and surveyed his work. Most of the shuriken had hit the exact centre of the logs, but there were a few that were slightly off. He sighed, he'd have to work on that another time. He grabbed his shuriken and set off to search for the missing-nin.

The rest of the afternoon was spent patrolling the area. When the sky started getting red, he made his way back to the meeting point. Sasuke and Hisa were already there, setting up the tents. Soon everyone had arrived back and none of them had anything to report. Sasuke looked annoyed at that.

"We'll set up camp here. Tomorrow morning we'll start searching again. For now, train or get some sleep. Don't go too far."

He turned away and climbed into one of the tents. Konahamaru immediately wandered off to read his book. Hisa was about to go into a tent before Nawaki tapped her on the shoulder.

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

She sighed.

"Why do you still insist on sparring with me every day? You know you're going to lose."

He grinned cheerfully. This was an old routine they had. Nawaki would demand a match, Hisa would try to discourage him, but in the end they always fought anyway.

"I'm not going to stop until I beat you at least once."

She rolled her eyes.

"The only way you could beat me is if you got a doujutsu. But last time I checked you weren't a Hyuga and eyes like the Sharingan and Rinnegan are pretty rare these days."

He grinned. If only she knew.

"One fight. Then I won't bother you for the rest of the night."

She sighed again, and he knew he'd won.

"Fine, one fight. Oki can referee."

They moved away from the tents, to a small clearing at the side of the road. Oki sat down in the grass, not even pretending to look interested. She had been refereeing these matches for three years now. There wasn't really a point, seeing as there were no rules. But it was important that someone watched them, otherwise there was a good chance they would kill each other. Sometimes they took their sparring far too seriously.

Nawaki and Hisa faced off on opposite sides of the clearing. Nawaki looked determined, Hisa just looked bored.

"Begin." Oki said.

Nawaki wasted no time in making hand-seals.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

He knew that the jutsu wouldn't work. No one ever got injured by a fireball. He generally used the jutsu at the start of the match to see what mood Hisa was in. If she wanted the match over quickly, she would jump out of the way. If she felt like humouring him, she would use other methods.

Today, she flung a special kunai and teleported. Nawaki grinned, it was going to be a tough match. Hisa slammed her hand on the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

A snake-tailed chameleon appeared, it's eyes identical to Hisa. It was about the size of a whale and according to Hisa it was still a child. Nawaki knew what this creature could do, but he still didn't know how to stop it. Its tounge darted out, picking Hisa up and putting her into its mouth. Nawaki could only watch as it vanished.

The creature was perfect if you needed to hide. Once it was camouflaged, the only way to detect it was with a barrier jutsu. Nawaki didn't know any barrier jutsu, so he settled for flinging shuriken and kunai at the seemingly empty area. Most of them thudded onto the grass, but there were a few that mysteriously vanished. Nawaki focused on the area that was bare, flinging a hail of senbon needles at it. Nawaki knew was aiming at the right place when a new summon appeared. This time, it was a giant panda. The panda's skin hardened when the senbon hit it, creating a defensive barricade. The minute Nawaki stopped throwing senbon, it disappeared.

Nawaki was getting frustrated. He never liked fighting Hisa when she went invisible. He knew that if he could use his sharingan, he could find her in a heartbeat. But as it was, he was blind. He threw some more kunai at the spot where Hisa had been, but when they hit the ground he knew she had moved. He spun around in a circle, searching for any traces of her.

Suddenly, he heard a noise from behind him. He turned around but he was too late. Hisa punched him straight in the face, knocking him over. He felt a trickle of blood seep out of his mouth, but he ignored the pain in his jaw and struggled back onto his feet.

"That's enough for today Nawaki." Hisa said.

He shook his head stubbornly.

"No. You promised me one fight. I'm not ready to admit defeat. Are you?"

He knew she would keep fighting. As much as fighting him irritated her, she would never choose to quit.

"Suit yourself." she said, before she flung out her hand.

"Almighty Push!" she yelled.

Nawaki had been flung through the air by this jutsu more times than he could count. As he was pushed into a tree, he spun around and landed in a crouch.

"You'll have to do better than that." he smirked, trying to rile her. "Don't tell me you've lost your touch."

She frowned and pulled out a kunai, before charging at him. Nawaki grabbed one of his own kunai and ran to meet her in the middle. The clang of metal on metal echoed through the clearing. Both of them struggled to push their kunai forward.

"A kunai?" Nawaki asked "Why not use your Rinnegan? Or have you used up too much chakra already?"

Her frown deepened.

"I don't need my Rinnegan to defeat you. I don't even need ninjutsu."

She jumped backwards and flung her kunai at him. Nawaki brought his kunai down quickly to block it. While he was distracted, she ran forward and knocked his feet from under him. As he fell, he grabbed her hand and flipped her over his head. Both of them landed in a crouch. Nawaki got up quickly, creating three shadow clones and sending them after Hisa. She punched the first one, kicked the second and jumped over the third, slamming it to the ground. The clones distracted her so that Nawaki could get close. He aimed a punch at her. Just as his fist was about to meet her face, she disappeared. Nawaki felt the cold metal of a kunai press into his neck.

"Game over." Hisa said from behind him.

He grinned.

"What was that you said about not needing ninjutsu? Because that looked like a teleportation jutsu to me."

She didn't answer him, but the kunai stopped pressing into his flesh. He turned around, expecting her to have stormed away. To his surprise, he noticed Sasuke watching them. Once it was clear the match was over, Sasuke walked over to them.

"Nawaki," he said "Would you mind if I had a spar with Hisa?"

Nawaki felt the familiar pang in his heart, and had to remind himself that Sasuke didn't know he was his son. He still couldn't quite ignore the voices whispering in his head, telling him that her was worthless to Sasuke.

He nodded once and left quickly. He didn't want to stay and watch, to hear his father praise Hisa or give her advice. It wasn't that he was jealous, he just didn't like seeing Sasuke act remotely like a father to anyone. It was silly and irrational, he knew that. But he still couldn't help it.

His thoughts wandered to his own match with Hisa, and he grinned. He may not have won, but the fact that she had needed to use ninjutsu to defeat him made him happy. He would pester her about that later.

By the time Sasuke and Hisa finished their spar, the sky was completely dark. Everyone was tired from a long day of patrol, and quickly went into their tents. Sasuke looked slightly suspicious when Nawaki explained his excuse about sleeping outside, but he didn't comment on it.

Nawaki lay awake, staring up at the stars and listening to the snores and sounds of deep breathing coming from the tents. Would his mother show tonight? He wasn't certain, and perhaps it was better if she didn't. It was very risky to visit him when Sasuke was a few meters away.

He closed his eyes. If she came, she would wake him up. If she didn't, then he would get a full night's sleep.

He leant back against the tree and let sleep wash over him.


	33. Chapter 33

"Nawaki, wake up."

He felt someone shake him and shot up, eyes wide and fully awake. The first thing he saw was pink hair. She had come.

"Mom! Sasuke! He's right over there and-"

"Shh, shh, Nawaki I know. I put a small genjutsu on him. It's undetectable and all it does is make him sleep heavier. Come on, let's go."

They walked for a little bit until both of them were sure they couldn't be heard. Once they were safe, Sakura pulled Nawaki into a hug.

"How've you been?" she asked.

He shrugged.

"Good enough. I still haven't beaten Hisa, but I'm more worried about Sasuke. It's kind of dangerous being on a mission with him, especially now that you're here."

She nodded thoughtfully. Nawaki could see that something was bothering her. He waited patiently for her to spit it out.

"Nawaki… What exactly is your mission?"

He was surprised by her question, but did his best not to show it. What did his mission have to do with her?

"We're supposed to patrol the area and find a missing-nin. Why do you ask?"

She bit her lip nervously.

"Never mind for now. Let's just enjoy the time we have."

Nawaki was sick of all the mysteries, but he was patient. His mother would have to tell him eventually. For now, he sat down on a branch and began to talk.

"I've finally managed to complete the Rasengan. It still cuts my hand a bit."

"The Rasengan? That's amazing! Here, give me your hand and I'll heal it."

She took his right hand and placed it gently in her lap. Soon, her hands began to glow and a pale green light surrounded his hand. Nawaki's hand began to tingle, and he felt the skin regrow. After a few seconds, she pulled her hands away and studied his palm.

"There, that should do it. Do you have any other cuts and bruises?"

Nawaki had plenty, but he didn't want to waste all his time. So he shook his head and leant back, resting his back againt the tree trunk.

"So…" he began

"So…" Sakura echoed.

Nawaki sighed. This was going nowhere. Time to be blunt.

"What happened between you and Sasuke? Did you leave the village because you were scared of him, or did you do it for some other reason? I really need to know, I'm scared that it's my fault you left."

The look of pain in his mother's eyes frightened him. Abruptly, she pulled him into another hug.

"_Never, _even for a second, think that you are to blame for me leaving." she said savagely "You are the best thing that's happened to me Nawaki. Never forget that."

Nawaki smiled, but she still hadn't answered his question. He didn't want to push her too far, but he needed to know.

"If I'm not to blame, then why did you leave?"

She closed her eyes and leant back. She was silent for such a long time that Nawaki thought she had fallen asleep. Eventually, she answered him.

"Part of it was Sasuke's fault." she admitted.

"Because he got you pregnant." Nawaki said quietly.

She nodded.

"Yes. Because he got me pregnant. But that was our fault, not yours. Besides, most of it is my fault and mine alone. I was too weak. I couldn't handle… a lot of things that had happened. I felt like I needed to escape."

Nawaki stayed quiet. It was the most he had ever heard her say on her defection and it left him with even more questions. However, he sensed that it was all she would say for the night.

She reached over and brushed a strand of dark hair off his face. He snuggled into her side, enjoying the warmth and feeling of safety that always came with being in his mother's presence. They sat there like that for a while. Sakura ran her fingers gently through his long hair.

"Do you like having your hair this long?" she asked.

He thought about it. It didn't get in the way when he tied it back, and it was always amusing to watch Sasuke freak slightly when he thought he'd seen Itachi.

"Yeah, I like it long." he said at last. "Sasuke told me it makes me look a lot like Itachi."

Sakura was silent. Nawaki glanced up anxiously, wondering if he'd said something that offended her. Her head was raised and her body stiff.

"Sasuke's beginning to wake up." she said "The genjutsu will only hold for so long until he realises what it is and uses his sharingan to escape."

They flew through the woods, jumping from tree to tree so fast that the animals barely noticed them. Once they reached the edge of the camp, Sakura gave Nawaki one last hug, whispered goodbye and took off. Nawaki quickly ran to the spot where he had been sleeping and lay down. He closed his eyes and made his breathing heavier, feigning sleep.

After a few minutes, he heard the rustle of a tent opening. He kept his eyes firmly shut, in case Sasuke had the sharingan activated. He heard a faint swishing noise, then silence. He lay there for a few minutes, hearing nothing. He could feel himself getting sleepier, his body protesting at being woken up in the middle of the night. He struggled to stay awake, but both his mind and body were against him. In the end, he fell asleep.

!

Sasuke's eyes snapped open as his senses noticed the familiar chakra signature. She may have lowered it to almost nothing, but he had memorized her signature and pattern long ago. Long ago, when they had been teammates and allies. Friends.

It was ironic really, he thought as he unzipped his tent, that he would spend the entire day searching for her only to find her by fluke in the middle of the night. Typical Sakura. Still annoying him.

She was speeding through the trees so quickly he could barely catch her chakra signature. She knew he knew she was near. He jumped into the nearest tree and began to chase her. For a while, they sped through the trees, but Sasuke began to close the distance. He would always be the faster than her and Naruto. She knew that too.

She stopped in the middle of a small clearing. It only took him a minute to catch up with her. He landed across from her, their eyes meeting. Neither of them moved, each frozen and watching the other. There were so many things Sasuke wanted to say to her, to demand answers. But he had never been good with words.

"Sakura." he said, his voice even.

"Sasuke." she replied, her voice in the exact same tone as his.

They were silent. Sasuke stared at her, and she stared right back, her eyes never leaving his. For a minute he considered putting her under a genjutsu but dismissed the idea in the end. He had heard she was good at breaking out of them.

"Well?" she asked. "What do you want?"

He stared at her. What did he want? What did she think he wanted? He decided to humour her for now.

"I want you to return to Konoha with me and to explain why you left." he stated.

Her expression was as cold and unreadable as his.

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

He was done with her silly game. He was here on a mission, he had to forget his personal feelings.

"Then I'm afraid you're under arrest." he said. "Will you come quietly or-"

He didn't see the punch coming until it hit him in the stomach and slammed him into a tree. In hindsight, it would have probably been more sensible to activate his sharingan before coming into contact with her. He activated it now, as he lay in the ruins of the shattered tree. She stormed over to him, until she was directly above him.

"Listen closely, Sasuke-_kun._" she snarled venomously. "You have no business in arresting me. True, I left Konoha without asking permission, but I haven't harmed a single person aside from missing-nin and creeps. You left the village too so don't pretend that what I'm doing is wrong. In fact, just stay away from me."

She spun around and began walking away. He pushed himself up, wincing slightly at the pain. He was pretty sure she had cracked at least one of his ribs. He stumbled slightly, before finding his balance. He didn't understand how this had happened. All he had to do was put a kunai to her neck and threaten her, and they would be on their way to Konoha. So why didn't he move? He had tried to kill her at least twice in the past, surely this wouldn't be any different? He felt the familiar gnawing of guilt in his stomach, a feeling he still tried to repress. He cursed himself for letting his feelings hinder the mission. If he didn't do something, she was going to leave, and he might not get another chance.

"Wait!" he yelled.

She stopped walking, but kept her back turned.

"Tell me why." he said, because he was still Sasuke Uchiha and he would not _beg _Sakura for answers. "Tell me why you left the village."

She was silent for so long Sasuke thought she was never going to answer.

"You know why." she whispered.

"I don't." he said firmly, although a little voice in his mind was whispering that he _did _know, and it was because of _him._ He ignored that voice as best he could.

She whirled around, and he was startled to see tears shining in her eyes. She did not let them fall though, and her words were furious.

"You _do _know! You know perfectly well. Don't tell me you don't feel even slightly guilty?"

"Why would I feel guilty?" he said, and he knew that he was lying to himself. "I come back to Konoha and you ignore me for eight years. I thought I understood why: I had betrayed you and tried to kill you, so why would you forgive me? I respected the fact that you probably despised me. Then one night we both get intoxicated and have a one night stand. A week or two later, you leave. I don't see the connection."

"You're a moron." Sakura told him, all feeling gone from her voice "I _loved _you. I _still _love you. But all you've ever done is treat me like shit. So I decided to let you go, let you find someone who you actually love. But you never dated anyone…"

Sasuke knew where this was going, but he kept himself firmly in denial.

"…Then one night you start hitting on me. I was drunk and stupid, but you were just as bad. You told me that you wanted me, that you _loved_ me. I was too drunk to care that you weren't serious. I convinced myself that you actually meant it. You _took my virginity _and then you _acted like it never happened! _HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO FEEL AFTER THAT?"

Her voice had gotten shriller as she spoke. By the end of her speech, she was practically screaming. Sasuke was feeling very uncomfortable. He had no idea how to respond, and things were getting out of hand.

"This is all irrelevant." he said coldly "I have a mission to complete. You're coming back to Konoha. I understand you're… confused. But you've had seven years to sort through your feelings. We can talk once we're both back."

Her face softened slightly, and her eyes became slightly distant.

"I'm sorry Sasuke." she said "But things have changed. This isn't just about you and me anymore. To be honest, it never was. True, you were a big reason I left, but I had more. There's a secret I need to protect, and it's not just for me. I know you've never apologized, and you probably never will, but I think we both deserve apologies from each other. I'll get mine out of the way now."

His brain was trying to process all the information she'd given him. _So the main reason she left was because of the one night stand, but she had other influences._ He was so caught up in his thoughts he barely noticed her leave.

"Sakura!" he yelled after her.

She kept moving, never looking back. Sasuke was desperate, another feeling he hated. He was about to lose her.

"Please." he whispered. "Please, I'm… I'm sorry."

She turned to face him, and he could see that her tears had begun to fall.

"I'm sorry too, Sasuke-kun." This time there was no malice in her words.

He allowed himself to feel a small morsel of hope, but it was crushed as she turned back around and jumped away.

His body was numb. He tried moving forward, to chase after her, but his legs wouldn't respond properly. He ended up crashing onto the forest floor. Only when his face was buried in the grass did he allow one tear to fall. He had failed. He had failed Naruto, he had failed Sakura and he had failed himself. Why the hell did he act so stupid? There were a million ways he could have convinced her, and instead he had acted cold and unrepentant.

He lay there for a while, lost in self-loathing. Years ago, he would have lashed out and tried to blame his failure on someone else. But he was a grown man, and he had matured enough to accept responsibility.

He pushed himself to his feet and made his way back to the campsite. As he walked, he thought about everything that was puzzling him. Nawaki's preference for sleeping under the stars, Sakura's sudden appearance after seven years and her words to him about protecting a secret. He understood one of her secrets, but were they thinking of the same one? Added into that confusing mix were Nawaki's resemblance to Itachi, Kakashi's calmness whenever he brought Sakura up, and for some reason: Sai.

All these thoughts made Sasuke confused. As he climbed back into the sleeping bag, he was determined to work it out. He felt like it was all a giant puzzle, and there was one key piece missing. He knew he could find it, if he just knew where to look.

His thoughts turned to Nawaki. Where did the boy fit in to all of this? Was it just his old suspicion returning? He frowned, he would think about it some more in the morning.

He closed his eyes and slept. Ever since his return to Konoha, Sasuke had had recurring dreams. Generally, either Itachi or Naruto was training with him. They were always enjoying themselves, and Sasuke felt happy too. Tonight, his dream took a different course. He dreamed of him and Sakura, posing for a picture. Sasuke felt his hand clutch at the shoulder of someone standing directly in front of them. But when he looked down, there was no one there.

His dream turned again, this time to him, Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi all eating at Ichiraku's.

A small smile appeared on Sasuke's face as he dreamt.


	34. Chapter 34

When Nawaki woke up, it had begun to rain. He looked blearily around the campsite. What had happened after he fell asleep? Suddenly, he became aware of the rain pouring down on him. He yelped slightly, and ran for shelter. Unfortunately, the nearest tent happened to be Hisa's and she was not a morning person.

"Almighty Push!"

The ensuing racket was enough to wake everyone up. Sasuke was the last to crawl out of his tent. Nawaki noticed him wincing slightly, and his hand was covering his stomach. Something had happened last night. Nawaki would have asked, but Sasuke looked like he would kill anyone who dared.

"Pack the tents." he said shortly "We're going back to Konoha."

Nawaki and Konahamaru seemed to understand that something had gone down last night. Hisa on the other hand, did not.

"Why?" she demanded. "I thought our mission was to wait until we caught this missing-nin."

"Things have changed." Sasuke snapped "Just do it!"

Hisa looked like she was about to argue some more, but Oki quickly dragged her off to pack. Once they were gone, Sasuke pulled Konahamaru away from the site and began to whisper to him. Nawaki studied Konahamaru's face as Sasuke whispered. Shock, confusion, disappointment, frustration, worry, consideration. Konahamaru said something to Sasuke, then he walked over to Nawaki.

"Sasuke woke up last night and met the missing-nin." he explained. "Unfortunately, she got away. There's no point in staying here any longer."

It all fell into place for Nawaki. He could have kicked himself for not realising it sooner. Sakura was the missing-nin they were tracking. No wonder she had been worried about his mission. Suddenly, Konahamaru's words registered. _Sasuke had talked to Sakura last night. _Panic swept through him. What had happened? Was his mother ok? Judging by Sasuke's condition, there had been a fight. If Sasuke had gotten hurt, then logically his mother would be hurt just as badly. Nawaki forced himself to calm down. She was a medic-nin. She could take care of herself. Some strange little voice in his head was yelling _Domestic violence! _But he was doing his best to ignore it.

Soon they had the tents packed up and were heading out. The rain got heavier, until everyone was cold, wet and miserable. After two hours of walking, Konahamaru persuaded Sasuke to stop and take shelter under a bunch of trees. Once they were all sheltered under the thick branches, Nawaki began squeezing the water from his hair.

He had been drying it for five minutes when he noticed Sasuke staring at him. The look on Sasuke's face scared him. Sasuke was staring at him with wide unblinking eyes, he looked frozen in shock. Nawaki moved slightly, and gave a little half wave. Sasuke remained frozen.

"Um…" Nawaki pointed at Sasuke.

The others stared at Sasuke, then at Nawaki. Once their eyes landed on Nawaki, they too began staring.

"What?" he asked nervously.

"Eh, well… Your hair is pink." Oki explained.

Nawaki felt his insides freeze up. _No no no this can't be happening. Not now. Not with _him!He slowly reached a hand up and brought one of his bangs in front of his eyes. It was indeed pink. It was streaked with grey dye, but the pink was definitely showing through. He could only imagine what the rest of his hair looked like. This was bad.

Luckily, he was saved by a most unlikely source.

"So you had another 'accident' with paint?" Hisa asked mockingly.

_Yes! _his inner self screamed(Yes, he had an inner self. It just didn't appear unless he got extremely nervous).On the outside, he tried to look embarrassed.

"The paint must have leaked all over my hair." he said, trying to look sheepish.

Sasuke just kept staring at him. Hisa had lost interest and Oki was examining her bag. Konahamaru was looking sceptically at him.

"How did it get in your hair if you weren't sleeping in a tent?" he asked suspiciously.

_Think Nawaki, think! "_Um… because…"

Hisa saved him again.

"The idiot probably rolled around in his sleep and knocked it over."

Nawaki nodded quickly.

"Yeah! That's exactly- I mean probably what happened."

"Riiight." Konahamaru drawled. "So, why exactly do you carry pink paint around on missions?"

"Because… No one else does! And… and I like to be prepared for anything. So, that's why I have paint. Pink paint. Yeah."

Sasuke was still staring at him. (_Congratulations, you broke Sasuke Uchiha! _his inner self cheered) Konahamaru looked like he was about to ask something else, but Hisa saved him for the third time today.

"The rain's stopped. Can we get going?"

Nawaki would never get angry about her impatience again. Seriously, he was buying her a new book when they got back.

They set off. Nawaki walked next to Oki and Hisa and quickly began a conversation about the rumour going around that Hinata had finally found out about Hiashi's use of the curse seal on Hanabi.

"Seriously, I can't believe she only found out now. It happened three years ago and everyone in the village knows."

"True, but Hiashi used his influence to silence anyone who tried to tell Hinata. Hanabi was too proud to tell her herself, but I heard Sasuke found out and told Naruto. Naruto told Hinata and Hinata was _pissed._"

"I'm pretty sure that's what happened. Mother was raging just before she left. She mentioned something about castration."

"She's going to _castrate _him?"

"No, I don't think so. She's probably going to give Hanabi _permission _to castrate him…"

!

It all fitted into the puzzle now. Nawaki had pink hair. _Sakura's _hair. That was the missing piece. He thought over his clues carefully. Sakura's words to him: _There's a secret I need to protect._ Nawaki sleeping under the stars- he had been waiting for Sakura. Nawaki's resemblance to Itachi. Kakashi had trained Nawaki for the Chunin Exams, hadn't he? Sai… Sai was Oki's father, and he was married to Ino, who was Sakura's best friend. He was sure that Kakashi knew, but did they? It all fit now. No wonder she was so bitter towards him. He had gotten her _pregnant._ He looked in front of him. Oki had fallen back to talk to Konahamaru, while Hisa was having a quiet argument with Nawaki.

Nawaki. His son.

Sasuke still didn't know how to feel about that. He had a _son._ One that he hadn't known about for ten years. Sakura was the mother. He didn't know which one of these things shocked him more.

He studied Nawaki closely. How had he not put two and two together years ago? The boy's last name was _Hachino. _Haruno and Uchiha mixed together.

He shook his head slightly started walking faster. He would worry about his skills later. For now, he had an interrogation to do.

!

Nawaki sighed as Hisa continued to give out to him.

"I mean seriously, I know you lost but that was three years ago. You should have gotten over it by now. You don't want to be a genin for life, do you?"

"No, I don't. I'm just not ready to enter yet. Besides, why do you care if I stay a genin?"

She glared at him.

"I don't care about you, I care about Oki. She can't enter unless you enter with her. You're supposed to be a _team."_

He felt slightly guilty at that, but he ignored it. He wasn't going to let her get to him.

"I asked Oki would she mind and she said no."

"She was being _nice. _Neither of us expected that you wouldn't enter for _three years. _Look, I know you can be an idiot, but don't tell me you haven't thought about how she feels."

Nawaki sighed.

"Look, I just want to enter knowing that even if I lose, I've done everything I could. I can't promise that I'll enter in six months, but I won't leave it for too long."

She sighed, but they both knew he wouldn't change his mind.

"If I hadn't become a chunin, would you still act like this?"

It was an honest question, but Nawaki didn't have an answer. He settled on smirking.

"Not everything revolves around you, Hisa"

She flushed and glared at him.

"I know that! I just meant… you know what, never mind."

She stormed away to talk to Oki, leaving Nawaki to walk on his own. He gulped. He didn't want to be alone, that meant…

"Hello Nawaki."

Interrogation time.

Sasuske fell into step beside him, looking straight ahead. Nawaki copied him, keeping his eyes focused on his team.

"So, Nawaki, I hear your village was burnt down a few years ago. What was it called?"

_He knows he knows he knows he knows "_Susugaya. It wasn't a shinobi village."

"Oh really? I saw you in your Chunin Exams. Where did you learn those skills?"

"A wandering shinobi came to live in my village. He taught me everything I knew before coming here. I don't think he would want me to tell you his name. Sorry."

"No problem. Did he die when the bandits attacked? A bit strange for a shinobi to be beaten by a handful of common criminals."

Sasuke could try all he wanted, but Nawaki was an expert at lying. Unless he was panicking, then he messed up, but Nawaki was focused now. He wouldn't give Sasuke any more evidence.

"I'm not quite sure what happened to him. He was pretty old, so he could have died. All that I remember are bells ringing and my mother telling me to run and hide. I hid for a full two days, and when I went back the entire place was in ruins. I don't know if he escaped. After I saw my parents lying dead on the ground I didn't want to check on him."

He knew it was working. Sasuke seemed to hesitate slightly.

"I lost my parents at an early age too. Their names were Fugaku and Mikoto."

Nawaki knew what he was asking.

"Mine were called Satoshi and Shiho. I was an only child, and they loved me a lot. My dad was a teacher, and he would often take me places and show me things. It gives me happy memories." Memories that were completely fake, but Sasuke didn't need to know that.

They walked in silence for a few minutes. Nawaki allowed himself to hope that Sasuke was finished with him, but Sasuek began to talk again.

"Have you ever heard of Sakura Haruno?"

"Of course. She was your teammate, right?"

Sasuke gave a curt nod.

"Yes. I still consider her a teammate, but I don't think the feeling is mutual."

Nawaki kept his surprise hidden. It was exactly what Sasuke was looking for.

"You see, I wasn't always loyal to Konoha. Having my brother kill my family affected me badly, and I became obsessed with revenge. Once I found out that my brother was actually good, I didn't know what to do. Revenge had dominated my life, what was I supposed to do now? Unfortunately, Obito Uchiha convinced me to destroy Konoha to 'avenge'Itachi. I went along with it, and after the war I decided to strike. Naruto managed to stop me and convinced me to come back."

He paused for a second to glance at Nawaki. Nawaki was drinking in every word. He was probably the only person (apart from Naruto) to have heard Sasuke talk about this.

"I won't go into detail about what happened next. Konoha weren't too happy with me, but Naruto convinced them to go easy on me. When he became Hokage, he made me Chief of Police and his Second in Command. He and Kakashi spoke to me every day, and although some of the villagers weren't very happy with me, I was content. The only thing missing was Sakura."

Nawaki tried to control his excitement and kept the mildly curious look on his face. Sasuke was still glancing at him every few seconds.

"You see, I had broken Sakura's heart back when we were both very young. After I had returned, she didn't trust me. In fact, she didn't trust a lot of people. She had… issues. Basically, by the time she left the village I had only talked to her five times."

Sasuke looked as if he was caught in memory, and part of Nawaki knew that Sasuke was telling him this for more than a reaction. He knew Nawaki was his son, and he wanted Nawaki to know how he felt. Maybe, just maybe, he was hoping Nawaki would tell this to Sakura. Nawaki couldn't be sure of this, as he didn't want to tell Sasuke what they both knew.

They walked in silence for a few more minutes. At any moment, Nawaki expected Sasuke to accuse him of being his son. Instead, Sasuke struck up another conversation.

"Do you know how the Fourth Shinobi World War ended?"

Once again, Nawaki hid his surprise.

"Yes. Obito Uchiha turned against Madara at the last minute. Naruto managed to take Madara down, and stop the Ten Tails. That's all I know."

Sasuke nodded thoughtfully.

"It's a bit more complicated than that, but yes, that's the gist of it."

Nawaki waited for Sasuke to continue, but instead, Sasuke walked ahead and started talking to Konahamaru. Nawaki breathed a sigh of relief. The interrogation was over, and he hadn't given anything major away.

He smiled as he saw Konoha come into view. Soon, he would be back in his apartment with a fresh bottle of hair dye and this entire fiasco would be behind them.

!

Naruto ran into his office just in time to see Sasuke pin Kakashi to the wall by his throat.

"You knew." Sasuke was snarling. "You knew for three years and you didn't tell us anything."

Kakashi remained calm, even though Sasuke was half strangling him.

"It wasn't my secret to tell. If I told you, what would you have done?"

"I'm his _father._ I should have known all along."

"What's going on here?" Naruto yelled.

Both men froze. Sasuke released his hold on Kakashi, and moved to stand next to Naruto.

"You tell him Kakashi." he said coldly. "I only found out this morning. Maybe you can tell us more about why you've been withholding information from the Hokage."

Kakashi sighed. First Iruka had yelled at him, then Anko had tried to stab him, then Ibiki had tried to interrogate him for some reason and now this. This was not his day.

"All right Naruto, sit down and get comfy." he said dryly. "This is a going to be a long story."

!

After Kakashi had finished (With some help from Sasuke) Naruto just sat there.

"Wow." he said at last "How did I not know _anything _about this?"

Kakashi shrugged.

"It's pretty complicated alright. The big question now is what to do with Nawaki."

Naruto thought long and hard about it. Eventually, he reached a decision.

"We have to act like everything is normal." he said. Sasuke tried to protest but Naruto held up his hand. "If we confront Nawaki, he'll run away and join Sakura. We have to handle this delicately. My guess is that Sakura was the one who decided not to tell us. Nawaki's a good kid, and he's happy here. I don't want to ruin that."

Sasuke stared out the wall sized window. What was Nawaki doing now? Was he planning to escape?

"So we do nothing." Sasuke said, calmer then he felt "But for how long?"

**A/N There will be another time skip next chapter. I won't be able to update as quickly as I have been for the last few chapters. It could be a few days, it could be a few weeks.**

**There are two ways this story could go. I can make it slightly angsty, but a happy ending. Or I could stick with my original plan and make it very dark. Possibly killing a few characters. I'm not sure yet which one I'm going to pick. (I'm leaving it vague so I don't spoil it) If you have any prefrence, leave a review and I'll take it into account.**

**Thanks again for all the reviews.**


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N Ok, a few people made some really good points about the plot do I'll do my best to answer the questions here. Firstly, Nawaki's excuse about the paint ****_was _****badly explained. That was intentional, as Nawaki was too nervous to come up with a good excuse. So he took Hisa's line and ran with it. Konahamaru knew he was lying, but he was distracted by Hisa and decided to leave it. I hope that helps anyone who was confused.**

**Secondly, one reviewer made a very valid point that permanent dye wouldn't wash off. I'm not a hairdresser, and I don't know anyone who is, so sorry about that mistake. I needed a way for Sasuke to find out, so I'm just going to pretend that there is no permanent dye in the Naruto world, and Nawaki uses hair dye that has to be reapplied every few weeks. Thanks again for pointing that out.**

**Two people have said that they want a happy ending, so I think I'll run with that as best I can. Thanks again for all the reviews. **

**There's been a two year time-skip.**

"Congratulations, out of all the genin that competed, you were the best on offer. Today, you become chunin!"

Naruto paused to look at the faces in front of him. Most of them were genin he barely knew, but a few stuck out.

"For some of you, this was your first and last time entering. Congratulations for completing it on the first try. For others, you tried and failed, trained harder, and came back when you were ready. This shows an excellent strategic mind."

He paused again, this time to stare at two of the brand-new-chunin.

"And for two of you-naming no names- it was about time you passed!"

Nawaki shifted sheepishly, but couldn't wipe the grin off his face. Next to him, Oki looked equally happy. After years of training, the exam itself had been surprisingly easy. They had both made it to the final of the one-on-ones. It had been a tough match, but Nawaki had eventually won. Both of them had fought so hard that that match alone was good enough for a chunin jacket.

Once Naruto had given them their jackets, they left the office. As soon as they were out of sight, Nawaki broke into a victory dance.

"We're chunin! We're chunin!"

Oki grinned as people began to stare.

"You know, we could have become chunin years ago if you had just worked up the courage to try again. Besides, it's only special if you pass on your first try."

Nawaki stopped dancing to glare at her.

"I wasn't scared! I was using my 'strategic mind'! And who told you it's only special if you pass on your first try?"

Oki pretended to think about it.

"Hisa, Naruko, Karura, Lu, Shikai and Toruko. Basically everyone who passed on their first try."

Nawaki was about to retort when Hisa ran up to them.

"Guess what?" they all said at the same time.

"You go first," Nawaki said

Hisa grinned.

"I just passed the first two tests of the Jonin Exams! There are three more to go, but I have a few weeks off to train."

Immediately, Nawaki's feeling of triumph disappeared. Why did Hisa always steal his thunder? Couldn't she have waited for another six months before entering? He sighed, it wasn't really her fault, but he couldn't find it in him to be happy for her. Oki, on the other hand, was delighted for her friend.

"That's great! How was it? Was it hard?"

Hisa shrugged.

"It was like the Chunin Exams, except everything was brought up a notch. The first exam was the psychological one. They used real torture to try and make you confess. The second exam was survival, but instead of just fighting against other chunin, there were professional jonin all waiting in the forest with orders to kill you on sight. I think they went easy on me though. None of them wanted to tell the Hokage they had killed his daughter."

Oki looked at Hisa in concern.

"Did you say they tortured you? Are you ok?"

Hisa grinned slightly.

"I'm fine. It hurt a lot but I have to put up with Nawaki every day. A little torture was nothing compared to that."

Nawaki made no comment back. He just turned and started walking towards the village gates. Konahamaru had informed them (at the last minute of course) that they had a mission today. They were supposed to meet at the gate in half an hour.

As they walked, Hisa remembered something.

"So you said you had news, what was it?"

Oki opened her mouth to tell Hisa about becoming a chunin, but Nawaki cut her off.

"Nothing. It wasn't important."

Oki looked at Nawaki in confusion, but he kept his eyes on the ground. She shrugged and kept silent. Hisa was staring at them in confusion, but when it became clear that no one was going to tell her, she started a new conversation about the Kakashi/Anko/Iruka rumours.

"Did you hear that Ibiki and Shizune are somehow involved in it all? Nawaki, you trained with Kakashi for a month. Did he ever give any indication about what was going on or who he was dating?"

"I don't think anyone knows what really goes on with Kakashi. People generally avoid Anko and Iruka's being unusually stubborn about the whole thing. You'd think that after five years he would crack and tell someone what's happening."

"Five years? I thought Kakashi and Iruka had something going on for longer than that."

"I did too, but that's before Anko came in. Honestly, I think we're better off not knowing. The truth would probably scar your mind."

By this time, they had reached the gates where Konahamaru was waiting. He smiled when he noticed the chunin jacket hanging out of Nawaki's backpack. Neither Nawaki nor Oki had gotten the chance to put them on before Hisa arrived. Now, Nawaki didn't feel like putting his on at all. Konahamaru stepped forward and began to explain the mission.

"Alright. First of all, congratulations to Hisa for passing the first two Jonin Exams. Here's hoping you pass the last three, and try and watch out for a man named Might Guy. Trust me, if you get him for the fourth exam, you'll be scarred for life."

Konahamaru shuddered slightly, remembering his own Jonin Exam. Nawaki wondered if it was worth asking about, then decided against it. Some of Konahamaru's stories should never be told in public.

"The mission is a standard rescue mission. A group of missing-nin have attacked a small village and kidnapped a few children. They are holding them hostage in the nearby forest. Our mission is to retrieve the children. However, the missing-nin are strong, so we may have to kill them."

Nawaki gulped and Oki looked nervous. Neither of them had killed on a mission yet, and it wasn't something that Nawaki was looking forward to. Hisa on the other hand, looked completely unaffected by Konahamaru's statement. Nawaki supposed that after killing a bunch of innocent genin at the age of six, killing criminals wasn't that big a deal for her anymore.

Once they had all double-checked their supplies, they set off. They walked in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Nawaki, as usual, was thinking about his family. Ever since the 'Pink Incident', Sakura's visits had gotten rarer. Both she and Nawaki were aware that Sasuke knew, but as no move had been made to capture Nawaki, both of them had agreed that Nawaki should stay in the village. However, sometimes when he arranged to meet with his mother, an ANBU member would tail him. They never saw anything, as both Nawaki and Sakura were cautious about meeting. It was a strange life, Nawaki mused, to have a mother who he barely saw, and who wouldn't come back to the village and who left out important details about her past. It was even stranger to have a father who knew he was his son, yet pretended that he knew nothing about it.

After a few hours of walking, they reached the area of forest where the missing-nin had their base. Konahamaru came to a sudden stop, and the others stopped behind him.

"What's wrong?" Nawaki asked.

Hisa was the one who answered him.

"Three missing-nin up ahead. It's an ambush. They haven't noticed us yet."

They made a small circle around Konahamaru, waiting for his orders.

"We need to take them by surprise. We can't let them get word back to their comrades."

"I can get them all with my special kunai." Hisa offered.

Konahamaru shook his head.

"Too dangerous and too much chakra. Let me handle this for now. You three wait here in case I need backup."

Hisa didn't look to happy but she didn't protest. Instead, she handed Konahamaru a kunai. Nawaki's eyes strained to see the missing-nin. They were hidden well; he could barely see the tip of a boot poking out from behind a leaf.

Konahamaru crept forward slightly. Suddenly, he disappeared. Nawaki began to panic until Oki nudged him and pointed to the place where the missing-nin were hiding. Konahamaru had appeared behind them. With two well-placed blows to the neck two of them collapsed unconscious. Nawaki watched as Konahamaru looked around, searching in case another missing-nin was hiding nearby.

Suddenly, Nawaki noticed a missing-nin creeping up behind Konahamaru. The shinobi held a kunai in his hand, and brought it down swiftly, aiming for Konahamaru's back. Nawaki opened his mouth to warn Konahamaru, knowing that it would be too late. He watched helplessly as the kunai came down.

And then Hisa was there, blocking the kunai with one of her own. Nawaki looked beside him to where she had been only seconds before. He remembered the kunai she had given Konahamaru. He had to admit, the teleportation jutsu was useful. Hisa kicked the missing-nin in the stomach, before landing a swift rabbit-punch on his head. The man's eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed on the tree branch.

Nawaki waited until Konahamaru had given the all clear before he and Oki ran forward to join them. They were about to move out again but Konahamaru held up his hand to stop them. He pointed to the unconscious shinobi.

"I don't know if he warned the others before trying to attack me. They could already know we're here."

Hisa frowned.

"So what, we do nothing? We've got one jonin, one almost-jonin and two…" She looked over at Nawaki and Oki. "Did you two get your chunin jackets yet?"

Nawaki rolled his eyes.

"So now she remembers." he muttered "We got them today. Oh, and by the way, there's no such thing as an almost-jonin."

"What are Tokubetsu Jonin then?" Hisa challenged

Konahamaru interrupted before they could get into a full blown argument.

"I can't see anything suspicious up ahead, but I can't be certain. We'll go slowly and stick together. That means no teleporting Hisa."

"Too late." Nawaki said as Hisa disappeared.

Konahamaru groaned.

"That little idiot. Naruto will kill me if she gets hurt."

He jumped quickly off the tree branch, Nawaki and Oki following him. They raced ahead, searching for wherever Hisa had teleported too.

After five minutes, they caught up to her, just as she was about fling another kunai.

"I've scanned the area." she said. "There are no missing-nin for at least a mile."

"What about the one behind you?" Oki said.

Hisa turned just as the missing-nin swiped. Nawaki shot a fireball and Konahamaru yanked Hisa out of the way. The fireball missed the missing-nin, but it gave Oki time to sneak up behind him and put her sword to his neck. The missing-nin froze.

"Well," said Konahamaru "I don't think you looked properly Hisa. This looks like a missing-nin to me, and he's definitely closer than a mile. You are a missing-nin aren't you?"

The man nodded once. He was young, in his twenties and he looked terrified.

"Your Naruto's kid." he whispered looking at Hisa "The one with the Rinnegan."

Hisa rolled her eyes and Oki pressed her sword in a little harder.

"She's the one with the creepy purple eyes, and I'm the one with the sharp pointy weapon that could cut your neck at any minute. Now that we've established the basics, let's discuss what to do with you."

"No one knows." the man said hurriedly. "None of them know you're here. I was the first one to see you, and you caught me before I could get word to someone else. Please don't kill me."

Nawaki blinked. "Well that was surprisingly easy. What now?"

Oki lifted her sword from his neck and smacked the hilt down on top of his head. The man collapsed, unconscious.

"The ones we knocked out before should be waking up soon. We need to hurry-No teleporting!"

Hisa sighed, just about to throw the kunai.

"Fine, fine. We'll go by tree."

Another hour passed, in which Nawaki's paranoia grew. They were in enemy territory, yet they hadn't seen a single missing-nin since the one Oki knocked out. The ones they had knocked out should have been awake by now. Why hadn't they warned the others? Where were the others in the first place?

Konahamaru seemed equally suspicious.

"I think we were slightly misinformed. There's definitely more than a few missing-nin hiding around here. The client told me there were 'a few' but I'd say there's at least twenty."

"How can you tell?" Nawaki asked.

"The forest is big, and the base is located much deeper than we are now. If they could afford to set an ambush this far away from their base then they must have men to spare."

"Then why haven't we seen anymore?" Oki asked.

Konahamaru thought about it.

"My guess is that they know we're here and their planning a much bigger ambush once we get close enough."

"So what do we do now?" Hisa asked.

As if on cue, Nawaki stomach rumbled. He looked pleadingly at Konahamaru. Konahamaru shrugged.

"Why not? Let's stop for dinner."

Hisa stared at him incredously.

"Are you serious? We're in enemy territory and you want to stop for a snack?"

Konahamaru considered her words.

"You're right. If we get any closer they could ambush us. We need to be at full strength when we face them. Let's make camp for the night."

Hisa sighed.

"Whatever. I'll go on ahead and you guys can catch up with me tomorrow."

She reached into her pocket for a kunai. Nawaki waited for her to teleport, but her hand came out empty. She glared at all of them, until they noticed Konahamaru dangling something between his fingers.

"Looking for this?" he asked fingering the special kunai.

Hisa's eyes narrowed.

"Give me that. Now."

Konahamaru shook his head.

"You need to eat. I'll give you them tomorrow."

For a second, Nawaki thought she was going to attack Konahamaru. But she merely grabbed her backpack and jumped down to the ground. Soon, they had unpacked their bedrolls and were eating dinner. Nawaki had never been camping in a forest full of enemies before. It was nerve-wracking. Every time something scurried across the forest floor, all four of them reached for their weapons. Eventually, they learnt to distinguish between animal noises, and other noises.

Soon, Konahamaru declared it time to sleep. They had all decided to sleep outside tonight, in case of an attack. Konahamaru volunteered to keep watch all night, leaving the others with nothing to do but sleep.

Soon, Nawaki was certain that the other two were asleep. He himself had become so used to his mother's visits he rarely ever slept when he was outdoors. Konahamaru was sitting on a branch nearby. He watched his sensei for a few minutes. Konahamaru was so still, he could pass for an oddly shaped branch. Nawaki jumped slightly when he spoke.

"Are you going to stare at me all night, or are you going to tell me what's on your mind?"


	36. Chapter 36

For a minute, Nawaki hesitated, wondering if he should just pretend to fall asleep. But Konahamaru was staring at him expectantly, so he walked over and sat down beside him. For a minute, they sat there in silence. Konahamaru stared down at Nawaki knowingly.

After training with Kakashi for a month, Nawaki had noticed many similarities between him and Konahamaru. Both of their names started with K, both of them had hair that defied gravity, and both of them could give you 'The Look' The look was basically a way to say _I know more than you think. _

Right now, Konahamaru was giving him that look, and it was making Nawaki nervous.

"So," Konahamaru said "What's keeping you up?"

_Where to start? _Nawaki thought. He couldn't say anything about Sasuke or Sakura, he didn't really want to talk about his made-up past, and he didn't feel like talking about becoming a chunin.

However, there were a ton of other questions that Nawaki wanted answers to. He and Konahamaru had never sat down and talked like this. Konahamaru had saved his life on many a mission, and Nawaki had done the same, although not as often. Nawaki knew he could trust Konahamaru, he just didn't know to what extent.

So he started with an easy subject that had always confused him: Hisa.

"Sensei, why does Hisa always act… strange? I mean, she always acts like she's got something to prove. That she needs to show people how good she is, why is that?"

Konahamaru sighed thoughtfully.

"Nawaki, you've been her teammate for five years, but that doesn't give you the right to know everything about her. She doesn't know everything about you, does she?"

Konahamaru was giving him 'The Look' again, so Nawaki quickly went on.

"I know that, and I'm not asking for a huge childhood flashback. But we're supposed to be teammates. I feel like I could work better with her if I understood where she was coming from."

Nawaki knew he was taking a gamble here. Konahamaru knew that he himself wasn't telling them everything. Sure enough, Konahamaru regarded him with a critical eye.

"Nawaki, I don't think Hisa or Oki know exactly where you're 'coming from'. But they trust you nonetheless. Shouldn't you do the same?"

Nawaki stared up at him pleadingly and he sighed.

"I've been your sensei for five years, but there's a lot about me that you don't know."

Nawaki was curious now. Maybe he could get answers for some of his other questions.

"Like what? I know you're a pervert, and that your dream was to be Hokage. I know that you're Naruto's first and best student, and one of the best jonin around. I mean, even the enemies we fought knew who you were."

Konahamaru smiled, slightly bitter. He raised his hand and showed it to Nawaki.

"They weren't scared of me because I'm Naruto's student. They were scared of me because of this."

Nawaki watched fascinated as chakra surrounded Konahamaru's hand. It wasn't normal chakra, it was purer and there were dark streaks merged in with the blue. Nawaki watched as it covered Konahamaru's hand like a glove, before extending out like sharp claws. Konahamaru shuddered slightly and Nawaki watched as the chakra became a cloak. As it covered Konahamaru, his features changed. Instead of just having chakra claws, his nails sharpened into points. When the chakra reached his face, his jaw got longer and his teeth got sharper. His eyes had a feral look to them. Nawaki scooted back slightly, remembering an old legend about humans turning into wolves. Konahamaru looked more like a cat, but Nawaki wasn't taking any chances.

Then just like that, the chakra disappeared back into Konahamaru's body. His face and hands changed back to normal and his eyes became more aware. He blinked once and shook his head, before turning and looking at Nawaki. The look on Nawaki's face made him burst into laughter.

"What… what was that?" Nawaki whispered.

Konahamaru sobered up, and his face went back to its calm mask.

"That was the chakra of Matatabi, better known as Nekomanta or the Two-tails."

"You're… you're…"

Konahamaru sighed.

"Yes. I'm a jinchuriki. Hopefully not a permanent one, but unless we can recover the other biju, I'm stuck like this."

Nawaki was more confused than ever.

"I thought that all the biju apart from the Eight-tails and the Nine-tails were merged together to create the Ten-tails? Didn't Naruto defeat the Ten-tails?"

Konahamaru looked at him as if he was overlooking something.

"How exactly do you think Naruto defeated the Ten-tails? It's a huge mass of chakra; it doesn't disappear in a poof. Naruto managed to subdue it, but he had no choice but to seal it into a shinobi. He would have sealed it in himself, but with Kurama already there, it was impossible. He sealed the Seven-tails into one shinobi, and the rest into another. It didn't quite work out though; the Ten-tails was too strong. When they got back to Konoha, I offered to become a jinchuriki to help spread the Ten-tails chakra. Naruto was against it, but not a lot of people were offering. In the end, he sealed Matatabi inside me. He'd managed to make peace with the biju, and they understood that this was only temporary. I was careful to be polite to Matatabi, to respect her. Naruto was working on a way to turn all the chakra into natural energy, but complications arose. Basically, I'm stuck as a jinchuriki and I don't know for how long."

Nawaki was stunned. Konahamaru, his sensei, was a jinchuriki. How had he not noticed?

"Who are the other two shinobi with parts of the Ten-tails?" he asked.

Konahamaru's face grew solemn.

"If you don't know, you're better off. Naruto and Sasuke talked and they agreed that the less people that know the better. Trust me, it makes it hard to see people the same way once you know that they're a jinchuriki. It was really strange for me; I used to be singled out because I was the Third Hokage's grandson. People would treat me with awe and respect everywhere I went. But now it's the opposite. Thanks to Naruto, not many people despise jinchuriki, but most shinobi find it hard to forget that the whole war was about the biju."

Nawaki didn't know what to say. He sat there in silence, absorbing the information. How exactly had the war ended? Sakura had always avoided the subject by saying 'Naruto saved us all. As usual.' But now, he was extremely curious.

Konahamaru looked down at him and smiled.

"So, do you still want to know about Hisa or do you think you can live without knowing how she ticks?"

Nawaki knew what Konahamaru wanted him to say, but finding out more about the war had heightened Nawaki's curiosity. What else could he learn tonight?

"I'd like to know your opinion." Nawaki said carefully. "You've been like an uncle to Hisa, so you know more about her than I do."

Konahamaru sighed, but Nawaki knew he would tell him.

"If you really want to know, then fine. I can empathise with Hisa in a few ways. She's the Hokage's daughter, I was the Hokage's grandson. I wanted to be known as more than that, I wanted to make my own identity. It's harder for her though, because Naruto is more than a Hokage. He's basically the key to world peace. That makes it even harder to get out of his shadow. Then you throw in the Rinnegan, which means that now everyone thinks that she's a god. She's either Naruto's daughter or the Sage of Six Paths. We are some of the few people who actually see Hisa as her own person. It's always hard to create your own identity, Naruto had to bring half the village back from the dead before the villagers stopped thinking of him as a demon. Can you understand now, why she tries so hard and trains so much?"

Nawaki thought about it for a minute.

"I can understand a bit, but why does she feel the need to prove to everyone how good she is? They already think of her as a god, why does she need to show them anymore?"

Konahamaru sighed.

"Nawaki, this is the bit that you're not getting. She feels the need to show off _because _they think of her as a god. She has a huge reputation, and she feels like she needs to show people that their right. The entire village has unknowingly put pressure on her to live up to being a god. She cares an awful lot about how the civilians see her. That's why she never likes to fail a mission, she thinks that if she fails people will start to think of her as a fraud. The sad thing is, she's probably right."

Nawaki thought this over carefully. He could understand where Hisa was coming from now, but he still didn't think that the villagers opinion was so important. However, Nawaki's whole identity was created by lies, so he didn't really understand a lot about what was valued in an identity. His ninja way was pretty simple: protect the people who you care about. It was easy for him to do this, as the people he cared about were able to protect themselves. Other than that, he didn't really think much, he just lived in the moment. He knew that killing people was a bad thing, but sometimes it was necessary. That was as far as his beliefs went.

He smiled at Konahamaru.

"Thanks sensei, goodnight."

"Goodnight Nawaki."

!

Hisa lay awake, her eyes closed and her breathing purposefully heavy. Neither Konahamaru or Nawaki knew this, but she had heard their entire conversation.

_Seriously? _Nawaki had dead parents, felt unsure about killing people, and had a strange attraction to Oki that Hisa had seen going on for years. So what did he decide to talk about? Her.

She wasn't mad at Konahamaru, he had pretty much said that Nawaki shouldn't pry, and that he didn't know everything about her. She was interested in his whole little speech about her though, he had a few points. She sighed and flipped over quietly. She had a lot to think about.

!

Konahamaru woke them all up at the crack of dawn. After having such a late night, both Nawaki and Hisa were very sleepy. But as they moved out, the adrenaline kicked in and soon they were both wide awake.

They travelled through the trees for a bit, Konahamaru out in front, the other three following behind. Their normal conversations were absent, as each of them were tense and wary, expecting an attack at any minute.

Just like yesterday, Konahamaru came to a stop at a seemingly random point. The other three crowded around him, wondering if the attack was about to start.

"This is where our client said their 'territory' began. Their base is located somewhere in here, but judging from the ambush we found yesterday, their base is a lot bigger than what we thought it would be. We need to split up."

He paused to give Hisa her special kunai.

"I'll take the left side. I'll keep a kunai with me in case you run into too much trouble. Hisa, you're in charge. You three take the right side and scan for their base. Try to remain undetected and avoid as much conflict as possible."

They nodded once, and split up. None of them were particularly nervous about separating from Konahamaru. They had been on plenty of missions without him, but it was still nice to know that Hisa could bring him here if there was an emergency.

They spent an hour combing the area for any signs of the base. Konahamaru had told them that the missing-nin had captured three children, so they searched for any signs that they had been there.

After an hour's search, they stopped beside a small lake to freshen up. Nawaki and Hisa had a small race across the lake, while Oki just looked on in amusement. It soon turned into a full blown water fight.

"If Konahamaru saw us now he'd send us back to the Academy." Hisa said as she splashed Nawaki. "We're not exactly behaving like shinobi on a mission."

"If Konahamaru saw us now he would join in." Oki pointed out as she kicked water at Hisa.

Nawaki almost forgot about the mission, he was having so much fun. Normally they wouldn't be so reckless, but they had spent two days worrying about getting attacked. They needed to blow off some steam.

After another few minutes of fighting, the three of them collapsed on the bank, laughing like sugar-high children. As they lay there, they began to sober up. Nawaki became wary, realising just how much danger their water fight had put them in. They had been so distracted an army of missing-nin could have snuck up on them and they wouldn't have noticed it until it was too late.

Hisa seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Let's get going." she said, standing up and dusting off.

The three of them set off across the lake, eyes scanning the shore for a hint of danger.

They were almost at the other side when the enemy struck. Nawaki heard a muffled scream come from behind him and turned around. Two missing-nin had grabbed Oki, and one of them had a kunai pointed at her throat. Nawaki and Hisa froze. The missing-nin on the left gave a nasty grin, showing off an impressive display of rotten teeth.

"Listen carefully brats." he spat. "We're taking this one hostage. We've got plenty of bases, so here's the deal. Don't come near the brats you were sent to rescue, and we won't hurt this pretty little thing." He howled as Oki bit the hand that was over her mouth. Nawaki could only watch in horror as he hit her across the face.

"So there's your warning. Don't try and find the kids, and we'll let this one live. We're taking her to a different base, but if we hear that you tried to rescue the kids we'll know."

Nawaki finally managed to speak.

"If we leave," he said quietly "Will you let her go?"

The man's grin got even nastier.

"I'm afraid not. We don't really care what happens to her, but she'll make a good hostage if any other shinobi try and find us. You can leave, but we're keeping her."

The man ran his hand down Oki's cheek, and Nawaki saw red. His hands formed the seals before he was fully aware of what he was doing.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

He heard Hisa yell at him to stop, but it was too late. A giant fireball rushed across the water towards the missing-nin. It was one of the biggest fireballs Nawaki had ever done. It rushed across the water, before hitting a tree and burning out. When it had vanished, the missing-nin were gone.

And so was Oki.


	37. Chapter 37

Hisa just stared, it was all she could do. Oki was gone, and if they tried to complete the mission Oki would die. If they went after Oki, there was a good chance they would all die. By the time they caught up to her, the children they were supposed to rescue would be moved to a more secure base.

When Hisa panicked, her brain worked in a way that was both useful, and a hindrance. It would block out all emotion, letting logic and strategy take control. Right now, her brain was remembering the lessons in the Academy about situations like these. The basic rule was to complete the mission and let your comrade fend for themselves. Normally, Hisa would have calmly followed the rules, but this was Oki. Oki was her only (She didn't count Nawaki, Obito was her brother and Kawa was… complicated) friend. That was why Hisa remained frozen, not quite sure what to do. Her logical, emotion-less state wasn't working properly.

She felt something rush past her in the direction that the missing-nin had disappeared in. Vaguely, she realised that Nawaki was the one running. Her arm reached out of her own accord, and she stopped him. He looked at her, impatient.

"Let's go Hisa! We have to rescue Oki!"

Hisa nodded slightly, but then caught herself. A cold feeling was worming its way into her stomach.

"Wait for a minute Nawaki." she said "We need to decide what to do."

His eyes flashed angrily.

"What to do? We rescue Oki! We can find their other base later, and complete the mission then."

Hisa shook her head, not quite sure if he was right but not ready to ignore him either.

"Just think about it for a minute. If we go after Oki, they'll take the hostages away and we'll fail the mission. The kids they kidnapped aren't like Oki, they have no shinobi skills. If we try and rescue Oki there's a good chance that they'll reverse the situation and threaten to kill the kids. We need to think of a strategy, not just rush in."

Even as she spoke, the words felt cold to her, like she was betraying Oki by not immediately running to save her. But she was a shinobi with a mission, and she couldn't afford to fail. She looked at Nawaki, hoping that he'd understand, but he was completely stubborn.

"They said that they'd kill Oki if we tried to rescue the kids, so let's just rescue Oki first."

Hisa sighed angrily, annoyed at his lack of sense.

"Do you think that they will just let us rescue her? They obviously thought this through. We don't know enough. We need to regroup with Konohamaru."

Nawaki shook his head firmly.

"They could be torturing her for information right this second! We don't have time to 'regroup'. Forget the mission for a minute, let's go!"

Anger swept through Hisa, mostly directed at Nawaki. She was trying to be rational, but he was making it seem like she was a terrible person for not immediately running off like an idiot. The worst part was that it was working. She pictured Oki screaming in a dark cave, and guilt swept over her. She pushed it aside for the moment, to focus on convincing Nawaki.

"We can't just 'forget the mission'. The shinobi rule book states that we should let Oki die and rescue the kids. I'm trying to find a way around that."

Nawaki stared at her in confusion.

"Why do you need a way around it? Just ignore it completely, it's not like Naruto will be disappointed if you chose to save your comrade. In fact, he'd probably be happier."

He was _really _not helping. The guilt and desire to throw caution to the wind was building up inside her. But she could hear the whispers in her mind, telling her that she wasn't allowed to fail the mission. She had to rescue the children.

"Look, you can't just go running off on your own. I can teleport and bring Konohamaru here. He can tell us the best strategy. Other than that, the only option I can think of is to rescue the kids and let Oki take her chances."

She didn't know why she had added the last part, but she needed Nawaki to see that he couldn't just abandon everything to rescue a comrade. Technically speaking, the hostages were more important than Oki. Hisa didn't agree, but it wasn't like she could debate the matter with the council right now. She sent Nawaki her coldest look.

"Wait here." she said firmly. "I'll go and get Konohamaru."

She reached into her pocket for a kunai, and froze.

Her hand felt damp and sticky. Slowly, she drew her hand out and stared down in horror at her ink covered fingers. _No no no this can't be happening. How could I have used the non-waterproof ink?_

Her mind flashed back to before the start of the mission, when she had been drawing the seals. She usually used waterproof ink, but obviously she had made a mistake. The ink on her hands and on the blotched kunai was clearly not waterproof.

Nawaki stared at her calmly, but didn't say a word. She dipped her hand back into her pocket and brought out her entire collection of special kunai. The ink on the seals was smudged, not one kunai was dry. Konohamaru had one of her kunai, so she could teleport to him. But there would be no way for them to get back other than on foot, and that would take too long. Plus, she doubted Nawaki would be willing to wait for them. Hisa sighed and closed her eyes, trying to remember everything Konohamaru had told her.

"These missing-nin don't rob or kill. They make money by kidnapping and holding people hostage, then threating their families and friends into giving them a ransom. Our mission is to save a group of children that they took hostage, but they've managed to kidnap Oki, a shinobi of Konoha. To them, Oki is more valuable than the children because she can be used to blackmail other shinobi and she means something to us. As well as that, there's only one of her, and there's at least three children. That means that if we go after Oki, they can kill a child and still be able to threaten us. On the other hand, if we go after the children, not only would we be following the mission, but there's a good chance that they won't kill Oki even if we manage to rescue them."

She glanced at Nawaki to see if he understood where she was going. He seemed confused, and was staring at her slightly sadly.

"You're willing to risk Oki's life just to complete a mission? They didn't even threaten to kill the kids if we tried to rescue Oki. Let's face it, we're outnumbered and we don't have enough information. Let's just rescue Oki and leave the mission for a bigger or more experienced team."

Why couldn't he just agree with her for once? The situation was complicated enough as it was, Nawaki didn't need to argue with every point she made.

"Look, I'm in charge until we meet up with Konohamaru. So let's get the kids to safety first, then rescue Oki. Once the mission is secure we can afford to go back and save her, if she hasn't saved herself."

Nawaki looked at her, and Hisa knew that he wasn't going to go along with her plan.

"I know that Oki's a good shinobi, but they had a kunai at her throat. As long as they keep it there, she has no chance at saving herself. I think you're analysing them too much. They want us to stay away from the kids and their using Oki to do that. We rescue Oki then-"

"By that time the kids could be halfway across this forest!" Hisa yelled, frustrated that she was once again arguing with him. "The mission has to come first! Every shinobi knows that, it's one of the things we accepted once we became shinobi. People don't come back from missions. You need to deal with that."

"Not if there's a chance we can rescue her. Whether you like it or not, I'm going after Oki. I understand where you're coming from Hisa, you don't want to fail the mission because you think the villagers will look down on you, and if it goes wrong you want to be able to say that you followed the rules. But this is Oki, your best friend. Is what the villagers think of you really that important?"

Hisa was surprised, Nawaki had burst out of nowhere with that, but he had hit a nerve. Hisa knew that she cared about what the villagers thought of her. She didn't want everyone thinking of her as a fraud. But just because Nawaki had talked to Konohamaru didn't mean he had the right to preach about her life. She told him as much.

"Just because you and Konohamaru bitched about me last night doesn't meant that you understand me Nawaki. Konohamaru was right about a lot of things. I've had this identity handed to me, and there's nothing I can do about it. It's-"

"If you say fate I swear I'll slap you. Look, I'm not going to pretend like I understand everything about you, but I can understand why you don't want Konoha to scorn you. But if you fail one mission, do you really think any of them will truly care? The people who really care about you, Naruto, Oki, Konahamaru, even me, we're not going to think any less of you if you choose your friend over the mission. We understand. If the civilians think any less of you, it's their problem."

If Nawaki was surprised that Hisa had heard his talk with Konohamaru, he didn't show it. Instead he stood there calmly and let Hisa think.

Hisa did just that. Nawaki was sincere, that much she was sure of. Most of what he had said was true, even if she didn't like to admit it. Konohamaru's words last night drifted into her head. _She never likes to fail a mission, she thinks that if she fails people will start to think of her as a fraud. _Nawaki was right, she was too concerned about what other people thought of her.

Then she remembered the end of Konohamaru's speech: _The sad thing is, she's probably right. _

Her resolve hardened and her face became stony.

"I'm not discussing my personal life right now." she said icily "This isn't really the time. Let's go and complete the mission, then we can rescue Oki. I'm not arguing about it anymore."

"Neither am I." Nawaki said "I'm going to rescue Oki, you can come if you want, or you can complete the mission. I'm not going to try and convince you anymore."

He turned and began to walk away. Hisa calmly reached out her hand.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." she said "Neither of us are strong enough to beat all the missing-nin on our own, which is why we need to stick together. If you go off on your own you could mess up any chance we have of surprising them."

Nawaki stopped walking. For a minute, he stood there with his back to her. Eventually, he turned back around. Hisa was startled by how desperate he looked.

"Please Hisa," he said pleadingly "Just come with me and rescue Oki. I don't want to fight you."

She snorted.

"I don't want to fight you either, but unlike you I'm fairly confident that I can beat you. If you won't agree to come then I'll just force you along, or knock you out. Either one will suit me at this point."

"Please," Nawaki said again, and there was a hint of hysteria in his voice. Hisa started to feel slightly worried. She could deal with a stubborn Nawaki, but a desperately begging Nawaki made her uncomfortable. Nawaki had this annoying way of making you think that he knew more that you, that he knew best. If he kept this up, there was a chance that he would convince her.

"Look, I'm not going to come with you, so let's just get this fight over with." she suddenly wished with all her heart that Oki was there with them. Judging by Nawaki's expression, this fight was going to get out of hand, and Oki was the only one who could calm both of them down if they got too aggressive. Her head felt numb, and one part of her brain was screaming at her to rescue Oki. But the cold logical part of her brain was in control, and it was putting the mission first.

"This is the last time I'll say it: Please." Nawaki said quietly. "Trust me, I _really _don't want to do this."

"Neither do I, but I'm going to do it anyway." she said as she stuck out her hand. "Almighty Push!"

Nawaki was sent flying towards a tree, but after being caught in this jutsu so many times, he was able to right himself in midair and landed on the tree in a crouch. Hisa kept her hand extended, waiting for him to retaliate.

To her surprise, he simply jumped down and began to walk slowly towards her. She kept her hand ready, in case it was a ruse. He walked slowly towards her, pain in his eyes although she didn't know why.

He came to a stop a few metres away from her. For a minute, they just stared at each other. Nawaki's eyes were sad and regretful, yet also determined. Hisa wasn't sure what her eyes looked like, but if she had a guess she would say cold. The Rinnegan often made her look cold or angry, even when she was neither. She had been avoiding her eyes in mirrors for a long time now.

Nawaki was the first one to break eye contact. He tilted his head downwards and closed his eyes, almost like he was falling asleep. Hisa waited tensely, not quite sure what trick he had up his sleeve.

Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw. Nawaki tilted his head back up, before slowly opening up his eyes. Hisa was so shocked she stumbled backwards.

"That's impossible." she whispered, unable to take her eyes off Nawaki's.

Nawaki's blood red eyes, each with three tomoe in them, stared straight back at her.

Hisa pinched herself, just to make sure that it wasn't a dream. It could be a genjutsu, but Nawaki had never shown any interest in genjutsu. Then again, he had never developed the Sharingan either.

"How…" was all she managed to say.

Nawaki stared back at her sadly.

"I'm sorry." he said "I'm sorry that I kept this a secret, but I couldn't show you without revealing my other identity. I didn't want anyone to know about this, can you understand why?"

Hisa's brain was busy flashbacking. She remembered that mission they had gone on when she was eight. Nawaki's hair had turned pink. Come to think of it, Sasuke Uchiha had been on that mission.

Uchiha. Pink hair.

"You're parents aren't dead are they?" she said, keeping her voice as calm as possible.

He shook his head.

"I can see that you've figured it out. Sakura knows, obviously, she raised me until I came to Konoha. As for Sasuke… I thought that he knew but he hasn't said anything about it. I didn't want to tell him myself. It's all just really complicated."

Hisa's confusion was gone now, replaced by anger.

"You bastard! Who the hell do you think you are? Last night you were telling Konahamaru that you needed to know more about me to 'trust' me. You've been lying straight to our faces you hypocrite!"

Nawaki's face remained calm, which angered Hisa even more.

"Konohamaru knows, at least, I think he does. I couldn't tell you or Oki because I didn't know how you'd react. Believe me, if there was another way, I would have told you in a heartbeat. When I first came to Konoha, I spent every day feeling guiltier and guiltier about lying. But for the last few years, it hasn't felt like I was lying. Konoha is my home now. My previous life is in the past."

"Spare me the sob story." she sneered. "I really don't want to waste more time. Let's just fight and get this over with, so we can rescue the kids and then rescue Oki."

Nawaki sighed, but looked resigned. Slowly, the two of them moved into fighting stances.

Then Hisa thrust out her hand and the battle begun.


	38. Chapter 38

Nawaki watched calmly as Hisa lunged. He sidestepped her punch, before turning around and jumping into a nearby tree. Even though he had revealed his sharingan, he still didn't want to fight Hisa. Even if he won, he would be low on chakra and would have wasted a lot of time. But there was no way he was abandoning Oki, and if Hisa chose to put the mission first then he would just rescue her on his own.

Easier said than done. Hisa glared up at him angrily. He kept his face as impassive as he could.

"Are you going to run away?" she growled.

"Just let me go." he said, starting to get angry. The fight was almost inevitable at this stage.

She continued to glare at him.

"Shinobi risk their lives all the time on missions. What makes you so special that you can choose to just ignore that?"

Nawaki shrugged. He didn't exactly have an answer for that. He was just… following his heart? There was definitely something inside him that was telling him that he needed to save Oki. He turned back around, and jumped to another tree. Maybe she would just decide he wasn't worth it and let him go.

No such luck. He felt her presence behind him and turned just in time. She tackled him and they smashed through at tree branch, before she slammed him against the trunk. She pulled back her fist, and Nawaki kept his expression blank. For a second, she hesitated, but then her fist came down. Nawaki winced as her knuckles cracked against his jaw. Whoever invented the phrase 'you hit like a girl' had clearly never met Hisa. He felt his lip begin to bleed from where he had accidently bitten it.

Hisa stared down at him, not moving. Nawaki expected her to throw another punch, but she just sat on top of him. She was clearly trying to find a way to make this entire scenario work out, but Nawaki knew it wouldn't work. As much as he hated to admit it, he was an Uchiha, and she was Naruto Uzumaki's daughter. Even though Nawaki didn't believe in fate, fighting Hisa felt like something he was born to do.

So he ignored the pain in his jaw and turned his head until he was nose to nose with her.

Then he spat in her face.

_That _got a reaction. She punched him again, harder this time. Then she grabbed the collar of his fake ANBU uniform (Naruto's crazy idea had caught on, and now half the genin in the leaf village wore these clothes. Needless to say, the ANBU weren't happy with this) and tugged him up. She raised her hand back to punch him again, but he reached forward and grabbed her chunin jacket.

As powerful as Hisa was, she was still younger and smaller than him. He pushed upwards, taking her with him, until he was standing and she was hanging from his hand. Their eyes met, and Nawaki was saddened to see that she was glaring at him with pure hatred. For a second, he wished that he had just gone along with her, but then he thought of Oki, and that man running his hand down her cheek.

He dropped Hisa.

As she fell he punched her hard in the stomach. She was sent flying backwards and smashed through two tree branches before slamming against a trunk and falling to the forest floor. He pretended that he hadn't noticed the blood that she had coughed out of her mouth.

At that moment, Nawaki finally admitted that he did care for Hisa. It was a bit too late to tell her, but he considered her a friend. They had fought before, but never like this. Sparring and fighting to see who was better was one thing. But now he wasn't fighting her for himself. He was fighting her for Oki. He knew that she cared about Oki, and he knew that she was fighting for Oki too, but in a different way.

That didn't stop him from running down the tree trunk, intent on finishing her. But Hisa wouldn't go down that easily. As she lay on the ground, she stuck out her hand. Nawaki was right above her when she shot her Almighty Push at him. Gravity seemed to work backwards and instead of landing on the forest floor, he was shooting up towards the sky. Then his head connected with a tree branch and gravity began to work again. As he fell, he noticed that Hisa had jumped onto a branch. He fell past her, and threw a kunai at her which she blocked almost lazily with shuriken. Nawaki realised that she was holding back, but he didn't know how long that would last for.

He landed on the forest floor, swaying slightly as he recovered from the blow to his head. He turned around just as Hisa landed opposite him. Quickly, he made the hand-seals, before flinging the shuriken.

"Fire Style: Art of the Phoenix Flower!"

The volley of shuriken became covered with fire-infused chakra. The flaming shuriken rushed straight at Hisa, who didn't even blink. She wove through them expertly, barely avoiding being singed by an inch. While she was distracted, Nawaki ran behind the shuriken and puched her in the face. Once again, she was sent flying into a tree trunk.

She lay there for a few seconds, panting slightly.

"You're faster than before." she said at last "I suppose that's one of the Sharingan's abilities. I'm guessing that you can also do genjutsu with those eyes."

Nawaki ignored her. He never really liked to talk during a fight (he hated flashbacking even more). Instead, he charged straight at Hisa. She was still lying at the bottom of the tree trunk. His fist was aimed straight for her throat, with a kunai in his other hand.

He was going to end this.

!

Hisa had the strangest feeling that she should be flashbacking right now. She didn't really know why, perhaps it was something that she had inherited from Naruto. She had heard that he could make fights last for hours, simply by flashbacking, or making his opponent flashback. Right now, Hisa got the sense that this would be the perfect moment for a flashback. The problem was, she didn't have any deep or important memories. She didn't really feel like flashbacking about her past interactions with Nawaki, and she didn't have any sad childhood memories.

Well, her childhood hadn't been _normal_, but very few shinobi had normal childhoods. Hisa had two loving parents and an older brother, she knew she was lucky. However, ever since she could talk people had told her about her father's greatness. She had been determined to live up to the hype, and had trained every day. It hadn't been enough for her, so she had devoted her entire spare time to training. By the time she was five, she had been classified as a prodigy. But the downside was that she had no friends other than Oki. Hisa had never really known what it felt like to have a large group of friends, so it didn't bother her. Then the Rinnegan came along…

Damn it. She had started flashbacking.

She looked up just as Nawaki's hand connected with her throat. His other hand came forward to slash at her with a kunai. She was glad to see that he wasn't aiming to kill, just to knock unconscious. Still, she wasn't going to let that happen.

She grabbed the first thing her hand found, which was her sword. She unsheathed it from her back and brought it forward to block Nawaki. The sound of metal on metal rang through the trees, and Hisa grit her teeth as she imagined the missing-nin watching them, laughing at how stupid and childish these Konoha shinobi were. She had to show… She had to do… something.

She pushed her hand forward and yelled "Almighty Push!" As Nawaki was pushed away from her, she got to her feet and jumped into the trees, knowing that he would probably be up already. She was worried, and for the first time, she wasn't sure that she could beat Nawaki. Her special kunai, which had become a big part of her fighting style, were useless and Nawaki's sharingan meant that he could now match her in most jutsu areas.( The Sharingan was the most annoying doujutsu ever, and that was coming from her.) That left her Rinnegan, which Hisa never liked to use much. It required a lot of chakra for a single jutsu, and she still got worried that she would lose control. The only jutsu she felt safe using were the Almighty Push and the Universal Pull, and each of them required a five second rest before reuse. Still, she wanted this to be over, so she decided to pull out the big guns.

She slammed her hand on the ground. "Summoning jutsu!"

When the smoke cleared, Hisa was standing inside the mouth of a giant snake-tailed chameleon. She knew that Nawaki would be able to see her with his sharingan, even if she turned invisible. But there were other uses for this summon.

She gave a small smile. _Time to get serious. _

!

Nawaki watched tensely as Hisa jumped inside the chameleon's mouth. As the creature turned invisible, Nawaki focused his sharingan on seeing chakra. With it on, he could see the two different chakra networks-Hisa's and the chameleon's. He let the chameleon blunder forward. It was neither fast nor agile. Then, as the chameleon got close, he jumped up onto a different tree.

Suddenly, he felt something wet and sticky wrap around his foot. He looked down in horror and saw that the chameleon had wrapped its snake-tail around his foot. Nawaki grabbed a kunai and tried to stab the tail, but it pulled him down and wrapped him up some more, until his arms were pinned to his sides. Only then did Hisa come out.

She walked along the tongue until she was directly in front of Nawaki. Nawaki looked at her, expecting to see hate or fury in her eyes. Instead, she looked sad and uncertain.

"Nawaki, we need to stop this. I know I've never said this before-and even now it almost chokes me to say it- but you're my friend. This fight does nothing, it just wastes time. Please just agree to come along and rescue the kids first?"

The way she said 'first' made it clear to Nawaki that she didn't know what would happen after they rescued the kids. That was why he only hesitated for a second before bringing his eyes up to meet Hisa's

"I'm sorry." he said as his eyes spun slightly.

Hisa crumpled to the ground, and Nawaki took a deep breath. The genjutsu would only last for around thirty seconds, but that would hopefully be all the time Nawaki needed.

The snake-tailed chameleon was panicking, unsure of what to do now that its master wasn't responding. Its hold on Nawaki loosened slightly, and that was all Nawaki needed. He reached into his pouch and grabbed some kunai, before pushing with all his strength. The tail loosened enough to allow him to free his arms. Before the snake-tail could tighten again, Nawaki flung the kunai at the chameleon with deadly accuracy. Nawaki had gotten the idea from the story his mother had told him about Uncle Itachi fighting Nagato. Apparently, Nagato had also had a chameleon, although apparently his one had been bigger.

Still, they both seemed to have the same weakness. As the kunai hit the chameleon in his eyes, he let out a shriek of pure pain, before vanishing in a puff. Nawaki dropped to the ground, breathing a small sigh of relief. He never liked being trapped.

Suddenly, he heard a noise from behind him. He turned around just as Hisa grabbed him and lifted him into the air. Her height made it hard for her to dangle him off the ground, but she managed to do it with one hand. Her other hand came forward and dug into Nawaki's stomach. Nawaki went cold as he remembered the only time she had tried this jutsu on him before. It had left him shivering and feeling low for the whole day.

"I thought you promised never to use this jutsu on me again!" he yelled.

Hisa didn't answer him, but her expression said enough. He was breaking the rules and abandoning the mission, not to mention the fact he had been hiding his sharingan from her. Why should she treat him like before? He didn't have any idea how to persuade her, so he dangled helplessly from her hand.

The Preta Path was the third path that Hisa had mastered. It was also the last that she planned on unlocking. The ability to absorb chakra had been very useful on missions, but now Nawaki wished that she had kept it sealed. As long as his sharingan was activated, Hisa was able to drain his dhakra through his eyes. She was careful to avoid eye contact with him, and he knew he would have to fight dirty.

As she sucked his chakra from his body, he feigned a look of shock and pointed behind her.

"Oki!" he gasped.

Hisa whirled around to look at where he was pointing. It took her a second to realise he had tricked her, but Nawaki used that second to slam both his feet into her. She dropped him and tumbled backwards, but got back up just as quickly. This time, she looked downright murderous.

"Who _are_ you?" she spat "The Nawaki I know would never have manipulated people like that. Oh wait, I _don't _know you. Why are all you Uchiha's such pricks?"

Hisa didn't normally curse, but they were doing a lot of things that they would normally never do. Nawaki kept his mind focused. Beat Hisa. Rescue Oki. It became a mantra in his head. Beat Hisa. Rescue Oki. He didn't allow himself to think any further than that. He ignored all the hurt he saw in Hisa's eyes. All he wanted to do was rescue his friend. Why did he have to hurt Hisa in the process?

He stopped himself there. Thinking about how complicated the situation was would get him nowhere. His mind slipped back into the mantra. Beat Hisa. Rescue Oki.

He grabbed a kunai, and rushed at Hisa. Her sword was waiting readily in her hand. He stabbed downwards and she blocked, grating the kunai against the sword. She twisted her hand slightly and her sword pushed the kunai away, before stabbing down at Nawaki's stomach. His other hand came up with another kunai and blocked her stab, before his free hand swiped at her. She jumped backwards to avoid the kunai.

They paused for a second to assess the damage they had caused, before they both realised that they were running out of time. Nawaki wished there was a way to stop time, but he didn't have the Mangekyo Sharingan, so he couldn't use the Tsukuyomi. All he had was his determination.

That wasn't quite working for him at the moment. Hisa had put her hands together and Nawaki could see that she was straining. It took him a minute to realise what she was doing. His blood ran cold.

"You can't." he said hoarsely "Naruto banned you from using that technique. You'll kill yourself Hisa."

She kept her eyes focused on her hands.

"Kill you? There's a good chance that might happen. Kill myself? Not so much"

"Don't-" he began, but it was too late. Hisa had opened her hands.

Hovering in between her two palms was a small orb of black chakra.

"Planetary Deviastation." Hisa said calmly.

Nawaki ran forward, not quite sure what he was planning to do. All he knew was that he had to destroy that orb. Hisa gently lifted her hands upwards, and the ball floated out of her hands and into the sky.

Nawaki looked up desperately. Already he could feel the pull, although nothing had reached the orb yet. His mantra had changed. The main priority was to destroy the orb, Hisa would have to wait.

He racked his brains, trying to think of an idea. He knew that Naruto had managed to escape this jutsu twice. But the first time was because of Kurama, and the second was because the ball had been hit by Itachi's Susanoo, Naruto's Kyubi chakra and Killer B's Hachibi chakra all at once. All Nawaki had was his kunai and a few chunin-level ninjutsu.

Still, there were a few things different about Hisa's version and Pain's version. Firstly, Hisa wasn't as strong as Pain had been, so the strength of the jutsu was a lot weaker. Nawaki could tell just by looking at her that the jutsu had almost exhausted Hisa. She had already used up a lot of chakra, how much power had she been able to put into the orb? Secondly, the orb had yet to gather enough debris to cover it. If Nawaki attacked right now, he would have a clear shot at the orb.

His decision made, he reached into his pouch and pulled out a kunai. Then he focused on his chakra. He could feel the natural fire that came with his chakra. Usually, he was able to blow it out onto his shuriken. But this time he needed to channel it through his hand-which he wasn't even sure was possible. He focused all his chakra on his hand, almost like he was water-walking. This time, he kept the fire infused with his chakra as it moved along his pathways. His hand soon began to feel like it was burning, but he ignored the pain as best he could.

He glanced quickly at Hisa. She was staring at him calmly. If Nawaki didn't know her, he would say that she looked completely confident. However, he could see the slightly nervous look in her eyes, and the colour of her skin was still a few shades too pale. She wasn't attacking because she felt overconfident- it was because she was trying to regain her energy.

The burning in his hand had reached its peak. Nawaki focused it all into his fingertips, and began to press it out. Chakra-infused fire shot out of his hand and surrounded the kunai. If it had been normal fire, it would have burned out immediately on the metal. But the chakra kept it burning along the blade.

Once the blade was fully coated in flames, Nawaki ran straight at the orb. The orb had managed to cover itself with a layer of earth, but it wasn't very thick yet. He jumped into the air, and let the orb pull him towards it. He stuck out his kunai, aiming for the centre.

He slammed into the orb, burying his kunai up to the hilt. For a second, he hung from the orb by his kunai. Then a bright white light streamed out of the orb, followed by a second, then a third.

"Uh oh." Nawaki muttered, realising a flaw in his plan. If the orb exploded, what would happen to him?

He let go of the kunai and frantically tried to push himself towards the ground. He ended up hovering in middair, thrashing around as if he was in the middle of a swimming race. Below him, Hisa had taken shelter under a sturdy tree. Above him, the orb had begun to shake and an ominous rumbling sound was coming from it. Nawaki had just enough time to cover his face with his hands.

Then the orb exploded and everything went haywire.


	39. Chapter 39

Bright light.

It was all that Hisa could see. As the orb exploded the light coming out of it expanded and got brighter. She soon lost sight of Nawaki, thrashing frantically in the middle of the air. Although the light got brighter and brighter, Hisa didn't close her eyes. There was something horrifying yet fascinating about watching light destroy. Light and dark were common metaphors for good and evil, so watching it destroy everything in sight made Hisa feel like she was seeing something spiritual.

Then the light began to die down and the moment was over when Hisa saw Nawaki's unmoving body sprawled on the ground. She ran over to him frantically, forgetting everything that had happened before. _He's not dead, he doesn't know _how _to die. Remember that jump he did when we were eight? That was at least ten feet. This is nothing. _She got closer and closer, and still Nawaki didn't move. She reached him and dropped onto her knees, slight tears forming in her eyes. When she had said she could kill him, she didn't actually mean it. She turned him over onto his back and felt for a heartbeat. To her surprise it was strong.

Nawaki's eyes snapped open and he punched her in the face.

Hisa growled as she was sent flying into yet another tree. Did he have to keep doing that? It was like the third time this fight he had punched her in the face. She had been trying to check if he was ok! Just like that the worry she had felt evaporated and Nawaki was back to being the enemy.

Nawaki was back on his feet now, and although he was panting heavily, he looked ready for round two. Hisa closed her eyes for a second and checked her chakra levels. They were dangerously low. She sighed and reached for her sword. This would have to be a non-ninjutsu battle.

Nawaki seemed to have the same idea as he reached for a kunai. The two of them ran at each other, picking up speed as they went. As they drew closer, Hisa slashed at Nawaki's throat, too exhausted to care about anything other than ending this fight. Nawaki's kunai came up and blocked easily, and Hisa was annoyed to see that his sharingan was still activated.

No words were spoken as they pushed down on their weapons, before releasing the pressure and drawing back. Something had passed between them; there was nothing left to say. All they needed to do was fight.

Again and again they charged, clashing their weapons together, neither able to overpower the other. After the fifth time, Hisa started to get annoyed, well… more annoyed than she already was. She had always been able to beat Nawaki in kenjutsu and hand-to-hand combat. But thanks to his _stupid _sharingan he was now able to keep up with her. I mean seriously, when she actually _needed _to beat him he suddenly revealed that he had a secret kekkei genkai. Not just any kekkei genkai, the _Sharingan. _What were the odds of that?

She was so irritated she barely noticed the kick he sent her way. At the last second, she managed to turn slightly so that the kick didn't break a rib. It still sent her flying into a tree. The tree shook slightly and a few branches snapped. Hisa silently vowed to plant some trees when she got back to Konoha as an apology to all the trees they were damaging. Then again, she might not make it back to Konoha at all.

Nawaki charged at her again and Hisa replaced herself with a log. Nawaki noticed almost at once and began scanning the area for her. She hid well, but his eyes spotted her within a few seconds. He threw a kunai at her with deadly accuracy, and she was too low on chakra to do another substitution. She quickly brought up her sword and deflected the kunai. Knowing that her cover was blown, Hisa jumped back down to the forest floor and charged at Nawaki.

The fight was starting to get repetitive. As Hisa was already running low, that wasn't good. She needed to change it up a bit.

So she sheathed her sword. The look of shock on Nawaki's face was priceless. Even better was the look on his face when she punched him into a tree.

Ah, sweet, sweet revenge.

Nawaki got back up and charged at her with a kunai. (Would he ever run out? Hisa wondered.) Instead of using her sword, Hisa ducked under his arm and jabbed at his wrist with two fingers. She saw the shock on his face as the kunai fell from his hand. It made her smirk slightly. Even though she didn't have the Byakugan, she'd picked up a few basic Hyuuga tricks.

Nawaki reached for another kunai but Hisa was faster. She hit him in the head with a roundhouse kick. He blocked it with one hand, but it still made him fall to the ground. Seeing as she had the advantage, she threw in another few punches. He blocked the first two, but the third caught him in the stomach and made his back slam into the dirt. Hisa grinned slightly until he grabbed her arm and twisted it around. Suddenly, she found herself with her head in the dirt and Nawaki kneeling above her twisting her arm behind her back.

She groaned slightly as Nawaki twisted harder, the pain threating to overwhelm her. If he kept twisting, he would soon break her arm. She pushed both her legs up until they were wrapped around Nawaki's hips. Then she used her free hand to push them up and flipped them over, slamming Nawaki into the ground. She grunted slightly as he let go of her arm. When she had decided to settle this with taijutsu, she hadn't meant a wrestling match.

Nawaki began to move and she quickly flipped away to a safe distance. Hisa checked her chakra levels again, and was satisfied to see that they had risen. She should have enough chakra for a few jutsu. She opened her eyes quickly and looked over at Nawaki.

Nawaki was standing again, but he was looking in the opposite direction. He must have missed which direction she went. Hisa grabbed a kunai and approached him silently. She held her breath as she got closer, but Nawaki made no indication that he noticed her. When she was right behind him, she stabbed the kunai downwards, aiming for his leg.

Nawaki turned around and caught the kunai by its handle. Hisa cursed mentally as she realised that his obliviousness had been a ruse. He had known all along that she was behind him.

She applied more pressure to the kunai, forcing it down towards Nawaki's leg. Nawaki's hand trembled slightly as he pushed back. Suddenly, he twisted his hand and the kunai slipped out of their grasp, falling to the forest floor. Hisa wasted no time in aiming a kick for his head, but he ducked it and began making hand-seals. His head bobbed upwards and he forced his eyes to meet Hisa's for a split second.

Hisa cursed as she found herself floating in the sky while a flock of birds flew around her. They looked vaguely like crows but Hisa guessed that they were ravens. Ravens were Nawaki's favourite birds, mainly because they were extremely rare in Konoha.

She struggled to break out of the genjutsu. Another advantage Nawaki had over her was his sudden knowledge of genjutsu. Hisa had no idea how good he was, which meant that she was always cautious to keep her eyes off his. Unfortunately, her eyes had drifted slightly over his, which had been all he needed.

"Kai!" she yelled and the genjutsu disappeared. She heard the sound of rushing water and had just enough time to look up before a wall of water surrounded her on three sides, blocking off any chance of escaping. She had no choice but to confront Nawaki head on.

She grabbed her sword and stabbed it at his shoulder. He tried to grab it like he had with the kunai but his grip wasn't strong enough. The sword dug into his shoulder and although the fake ANBU gear protected him, he still began to bleed. Hisa dug it in slightly deeper, waiting for his retaliation. How much chakra did he have left?

He put his hands together in a familiar hand-seal.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Hisa watched calmly as he began to form a swirling orb in his hand. Surely it wouldn't work? There was no way he had enough chakra…

"Rasengan!"

_I stand corrected._

He aimed it at her head, and she was forced to pull her sword out of him so she could move to the side. He missed her by an inch, slamming the spiral orb into the wall of water. The wall shuddered, but didn't break. Nawaki jumped backwards and put a small amount of room between the two of them. He made the seal again, creating another clone.

"How much chakra do you have left?" she asked, hiding her panic.

He grinned slightly.

"Why would I give you information like that?"

Hisa glared at him as she realised something. He was _enjoying _this. True, he was doing this for Oki, but she could hear the smirk in his voice. Part of him was glad that he was finally competing on her level.

She didn't think anymore as another Rasengan made its way towards her head. Her first instinct was to teleport away, but she couldn't use her special kunai. So she went with her second instinct and stuck out her hand.

"Almighty Push!"

Nawaki went flying backwards, Rasengan and all. Hisa checked her chakra and was glad to see that she had more left. She sent out another push behind her, and the water wall splashed down into nothing.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Hisa cursed as she realised she had overdone it. The trees nearest her shattered into pieces, and the ground around her cracked. She struggled to rein in and control her chakra, she hadn't lost this much control in years.

Eventually, the devastation stopped. Hisa scanned what was left of the forest floor, looking for Nawaki. His head broke out from the ruins of a tree, and he charged towards her, his hands making more seals. This time, it was a wave of fire balls that attacked her. Luckily, the five second recovery time was up, so she stuck out her hand again and used another Almighty Push. Nawaki's fire jutsu slammed into it and was pushed away, setting a few trees on fire.

Three Almighty Pushes in a row had made her chakra levels drop again. So she pulled out some kunai with exploding tags on them and threw them at Nawaki. Not many shinobi used exploding tags for anything other than traps, mainly because they weren't good if you were trying to be subtle. However, Hisa was pretty sure the missing-nin knew they were fighting. They were probably watching them right now.

The exploding tags hit the ground all around Nawaki, blowing it up and destroying it even more. Hisa realised a problem with her attack. The smoke from the tags blanketed the area like a thick fog, making it impossible to see what had happened to Nawaki. But Nawaki had the Sharingan which meant…

Instinct made her duck, which was the right thing to do. Nawaki's Rasengan missed her by an inch. How much chakra did he have left? He had done at least two Rasengans this fight.

They both jumped away from each other. Nawaki skidded slightly, his Rasengan slowly dispersing. Hisa used the few seconds break to check her chakra levels. She didn't have quite enough for an Almighty Push, but perhaps…

She stuck out her hand and yelled "Heavenly Pull!"

Nawaki's eyes widened as he began to fly towards her open hand. Quickly, he reached into his pouch and pulled out a kunai with some wire tied to it. He threw it as he flew, and it stuck into the remains of a tree. He kept flying for a few more seconds before the wire snapped taught, and he was suspended in mid -air. Hisa increased the strength of her pull, but he held on firmly. In the end, she was forced to stop before she wasted all her chakra.

Nawaki dropped to the ground as the pull stopped. He was breathing heavily, but he looked just as determined as he had at the start of the fight. The energy between them changed again, and Hisa knew that they were coming close to the end of the fight.

Nawaki made a hand-seal.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Hisa sighed as he made two clones. One of them started making a Rasengan in Nawaki's hand, while the other stood behind the real Nawaki. Hisa's chakra was almost gone, but she had enough left for one last Almighty Push. It was her signature finishing move, just like how the Rasengan was both Nawaki's and Naruto's finishing move.

So she stuck out her hand and charged towards him. At the same time, Nawaki began running towards her, Rasengan at the ready. Hisa stuck out her hand, ready to push him back before he came to close.

The clones picked Nawaki up and threw him at her. Her eyes widened frantically as she realised that she didn't have enough time to push him back. His Rasengan met her hand just as the Almighty Push came out of it. For a second, Hisa understood what Oki meant when she talked about the weird déjà vu she always got.

"Almighty Push!"

"Rasengan!"

The two jutsu met, neither fully able to beat each other. Hisa's Almighty Push wasn't strong enough to push away the Rasengan, and Nawaki's Rasengan wasn't strong enough to break through the Almighty Push.

They struggled for a minute, pushing their jutsu at each other with all their might. Hisa began to notice a white light forming between the two jutsu. Her eyes widened and her concentration slipped for a single second…

Sudden pain started burning up her arm. She cried out once. The light had become so bright it had enveloped her and Nawaki. For a brief second she saw him, sadness and regret visible in his sharingan eyes.

Then she didn't see anything anymore.

!

Nawaki stood over Hisa's unconscious body. He stared down at her with black, empty eyes. He had finally beaten her, something he had longed to do for years.

So why wasn't he even the slightest bit happy about it?

The fight with Hisa was over, but the fight to rescue Oki had just begun. For some reason, Nawaki didn't feel anything about that. His mind was back to its mantra, but now it was because he didn't have any thoughts left in his head. _Rescue Oki. Rescue Oki._

He turned around slowly and began to walk. Where was he going? He had lost his sense of direction. He swivelled slowly around in a circle, looking at all the destruction they had caused to the forest. The trail they had taken in their fight seemed to lead north. Shrugging his shoulders, Nawaki began to walk.

He didn't look back.


	40. Chapter 40

It took a long time for Nawaki to start feeling again. He walked for an hour, no real clue where to go, just kept walking north. He was numb from his fight with Hisa. Numb because he couldn't cope with what he had done. He had almost killed Hisa with his Rasengan, disobeyed her orders when Konohamaru had clearly left her in charge, and practically destroyed any chance they had of completing the mission. All so he could have the chance to fight a huge band of missing-nin and perhaps rescue Oki if he was lucky.

But looking back on it, Nawaki had no regrets. He was pretty sure that was his ninja way: _Live your life to the fullest, have no regrets, look after the people you love._ Something like that anyway. It was probably a stupid ninja way, but it wasn't like Nawaki had _chosen _it. It was just the way he was.

After a while, he began to mark branches with his kunai, half to pass the time, half to make sure he wasn't walking in circles. He was pretty certain that he was walking in a straight line, but his head hadn't fully recovered from the last attack he had done. Going head to head with an Almighty Push after already doing three Rasengans was enough to leave him dazed.

But soon, he began to focus. There was no point to walking around dazed. He had fought Hisa so he could rescue Oki, so he needed to do that. Closing his eyes, he tilted his head upwards to activate his sharingan. It took him a full minute to build up enough chakra, but he managed it in the end.

Now, as he looked around with his red and black eyes, he was able to see things that he had previously been unaware of.

Like the three missing-nin that were tailing him. He was able to see their expression from where he stood, half shocked, half gleeful. He could guess why-his sharingan was on full display.

He pretended that he hadn't noticed them and continued walking. He would have to wait for a while before he could build up enough chakra to fight them. They seemed content to tail him for now, probably waiting to see what plan he would come up with. Maybe they were all in shock of seeing another Uchiha.

A completely irrational worry hit him then. How would Oki react to his sharingan? Would she hate him for keeping it a secret? If Hisa's reaction was any indication, then Oki would probably feel completely betrayed.

But that didn't mean that he was going to give up. Even if she would hate him, he had to rescue her. The full impact of his decision finally began to sink in. By showing Hisa his sharingan, he had betrayed his mother's trust (He knew that she wouldn't hold it against him, but it still hurt), and when Hisa got back to Konoha, there would be no more covering up. The truth would be out, and Nawaki would be forced to deal with the consequences.

But as he had been doing all day, he put aside all those thoughts and focused on rescuing Oki. Luckily, he had managed to come up with some sort of a plan.

He reached into his pocket and took out a crystal ball. It was smaller than the one the Third Hokage had used, but after Nawaki had discovered the key to using them, Konahamaru had gotten him his very own crystal ball as his birthday present. Nawaki didn't use it much on missions, because it looked a bit ridiculous, but right now he didn't care about things like that.

He focused on the murky image he could see in the ball. _Oki Yamanaka, Oki Yamanaka. _He thought about her chakra pattern-which he had memorized a long time ago- and let it fill his mind. He pushed his thoughts downwards into the ball, and it began to swirl. When the image had settled, Oki was sitting trussed up and lying against a stone wall. It looked like she was in some kind of cave. Nawaki couldn't see any missing-nin anywhere, but Oki looked terrified. For a second, Nawaki worried that they had done things to her, but then she frowned and mumbled something about déjà vu, and Nawaki knew that she was fine. (They had all accepted the fact that Oki's 'déjà vu sense' wasn't going to go away and had begun to use it on missions. She didn't get it very often but when she did, she was scarily accurate.)

He used the crystal ball to scan the area around Oki. It was dark, and the walls sloped upwards to create a hemisphere shaped room. There appeared to be light streaming from the one exit that Nawaki could see. He drifted out and found himself standing in a small clearing. Behind him was a fort made from stone. Nawaki focused on the scene, and absorbed anything he could. Residual chakra traces, chakra signatures and patterns, ninjutsu that had been cast recently-he took it all in and stored it. Then he let the ball go blank and put it back in his pocket.

He looked around the place where he was standing now. With his sharingan, he was able to see the same things he had sensed in the crystal ball. He let his eyes scan the ground and the trees, searching for a chakra pattern that matched one of the ones he had sensed in the ball. It took him two minutes, but he finally managed to pick up on a faint trail. A missing-nin had been here and wherever Oki was. Nawaki hoped that he had gone directly from here to Oki, it would make it easier for Nawaki to follow. Keeping his eyes on the trail of chakra, Nawaki climbed onto a tree and began to jump.

Behind him, the missing-nin followed.

!

Hisa groaned and shook her head. Pain exploded through her brain, and she let her head drop back onto the forest floor. This wasn't the first time she had woken up with a headache caused by a chakra overload, but it rarely managed to leave her whole body aching. Still Hisa was pretty sure that after suffering through this, hangovers wouldn't scare her in the slightest.

_Focus Hisa. _Why exactly was she lying in the middle of a forest?

Her memories began coming back to her, and Hisa pieced together what had happened. The mission, Oki's kidnapping, Nawaki's sharingan, the fight with Nawaki, the end of the fight…

He had beaten her. The one time she had actually given it her all because she _needed _to beat him, and he had beaten her. If this was the way karma worked, then karma was a bitch.

She groaned louder as she pushed herself upwards. Everything _hurt. _The worst pain was in her right hand, she couldn't put any pressure on it without almost keeling over from the pain. She sat there for a minute, not trusting her legs to support her.

What should she do now? It was abominably clear to Hisa that there was no way that she was going to complete the mission. She needed Nawaki with her to have a chance of rescuing the children, and Nawaki had made it very clear that he wasn't going to go along with her. Nawaki was probably traipsing across the forest looking for Oki, and unless Konahamaru managed to rescue the children, she was doomed. It was time for her to accept the fact that she had failed, and focused on what she could salvage.

Oki. Even though the villagers would glare at her and scoff at her for failing, she could still manage to save her best friend. Nawaki was low on chakra, and probably feeling pretty awful after the fight. He didn't have a hope in hell of rescuing Oki on his own. Of course he was still stubborn enough to try, and he'd probably get himself killed.

Unless Hisa went to help him.

Hisa was still unsure about what she felt towards him. Yes, she was furious that he had hidden his sharingan from them, but at the same time she sort of understood why he had done so. She was too confused to figure out if he was her teammate or an untrustworthy backstabber. But if he was going to rescue Oki, and Hisa was going to rescue Oki, then teaming up was the best plan.

Sighing, Hisa pushed herself onto her feet, wincing slightly. Her feet were stiff, but she could stand and walk. She closed her eyes and focused on the chakra around her. Although she couldn't do senjutsu, Naruto had taught her a bit about narutal chakra. She had learnt to sense it better than an average jonin, but that still wasn't much. Nawaki trail was fresh though, so she was able to sense it almost at once. Following it wasn't much harder.

Should she really help him? He had pretty much tried to kill her, and her face still hurt from all the times he had punched it. Then again, she had basically tried to kill him too, and his face probably hurt just as much. She _hoped _it did.

Besides, she had a better chance of rescuing Oki if they teamed up. Nawaki must have had a plan of sorts, it was hardly likely he had fought her just so he could wander around in the forest.

Then again, this was Nawaki. And it was about Oki. When those two names came together, Nawaki didn't tend to… _think _very much. Still, it wasn't like Hisa had any other options. Well, none that she could think of at the moment.

Her, taking the moral high ground. Who would have guessed it? Then again, every shinobi had a different set of morals. In fact to most shinobi, she was doing the exact opposite of what was right. So to be accurate, she was following Nawaki's lead. That was even more shocking.

Slowly and carefully, Hisa began to walk.

!

After an half an hour or so of jumping from tree to tree, Nawaki began to worry. The chakra trail was slowly fading, and if he didn't find Oki soon, he would be wandering around the forest blindly. Well, as blind as you could be when you had the Sharingan.

He sped up slightly, keeping tabs on the missing-nin that were tailing him. He would have to fight them before he reached Oki, but he still wasn't confident in his chakra levels. He'd keep jumping for a bit longer, unless they decided to attack.

_You just _had _to jinx it, didn't you? _he thought as he felt one of the missing-nin's chakra spike. A few seconds later, he felt the presence of a genjutsu.

Seriously, did they not _see _his eyes? Maybe they were checking if they were real. He grinned slightly. If they thought his eyes were fake, they were in for a surprise.

He turned around and flung two kunai. The missing-nin who had been casting the genjutsu was forced to stop so that he could jump out of the way. The expression of shock on his face was priceless. Nawaki's grin was quickly wiped off his face as they surrounded him.

He waited for them to make a move, but they just stared at him in shock.

"You, you really have the Sharingan!" one of them said hoarsely.

"We thought it was all an elaborate ruse that you and the tiny one planned. Ya know, the whole fake fight thing?"

Uh oh. Maybe revealing that he had the Sharingan to a bunch of criminals wasn't the best way to keep it a secret, especially since he didn't plan on killing them unless it was necessary. Hah, like he could kill them even if he tried.

Quickly he deactivated his sharingan.

"Oh no! The elaborate genjutsu that my tiny friend placed on me has worn off! Whatever shall I do now that you are no longer intimidated by me?" Nawaki held his breath and hoped that they would buy it.

One of them narrowed his eyes. He glared suspiciously at Nawaki with blue ringed eyes.

"D'you think he's telling the truth? I mean, I really don't see any way for him to have the Sharingan."

"Yeah, but he sounded like he was acting- really, really bad acting." another one said with a whiny drawl.

"Maybe I was pretending to act badly to throw you off the scent." Nawaki put in, not quite sure what he was saying.

None of the missing-nin seemed to understand either. The one with blue rings around his eyes pulled out a kunai.

"Attack!" he yelled.

Nawaki-low on chakra, outnumbered and no Sharingan- against a group of missing-nin- probably better skills, outnumber him and have him surrounded.

This wasn't looking very good.

Just before they attacked, he jumped into the air. Suddenly, he noticed something. All the missing-nin were balancing on tree branches. Most of them were in the exact same position as the targets he used to practise his shuriken-jutsu.

Quickly, he reached into his pocket and closed his eyes. He still hadn't mastered this technique with his eyes closed, but he didn't have the luxury of using his sharingan. He managed to hit ¾ of his targets on average with his eyes closed, which should hopefully be enough for now.

He spun around in mid-air, before flinging the kunai and shuriken at the targets, which in this case were the missing-nin.

He knew he had hit at least one of them when he heard a scream. Soon, the air was filled with screams and yells. Nawaki opened his eyes as he landed, just in time to dodge a sword swipe. As he ducked and weaved from the remaining missing-nin, he tried his best not to see what had become of the ones he had hit. His eyes swept over one accidently, and he was relieved to see that the shuriken sticking out of the man's stomach didn't look fatal-just sharp and painful.

Judging from the amount of missing-nin left, he had managed to hit at least half of them with his weapons. There were six left, including the blue eyed leader. The first one threw two kunai at him, forcing him to backflip away to avoid being hit. Nawaki pulled out his sword and blocked another kunai. He wasn't as skilled in kenjutsu as Hisa or Oki, but he was better than the average chunin. He had also inherited his father's speed.

He ran behind the first missing-nin and swiped at him before he could figure out where Nawaki had gone. The cut was shallow, but the missing-nin still fell to the floor with a yell. Nawaki heard something coming towards him, and ducked just as a brace of shuriken slammed into a tree. He turned around quickly to face his opponents. One down, five to go.

The next two rushed at him with a length of barbed chain. Nawaki quickly made a substitution, and the chain ended up wrapping around a log. While the two were tangled up with the chain, Nawaki kicked one of them in the head and knocked the man unconscious. The second one dropped the chain and tried to put some room between him and Nawaki, but Nawaki's hands flashed.

"Katon:Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

The missing-nin fell to the floor with a scream, burns covering every available piece of skin.

_Would you look at that_, Nawaki thought as he dodged another kunai, _it looks like that jutsu can actually hit someone._

Three down, three to go.

But Nawaki's chakra still wasn't back to full strength. Using the two jutsu had taken more out of him than normal. With three missing-nin left, he calculated that he had enough chakra for two more jutsu.

Suddenly, the sound of the three missing-nin disappeared. Nawaki felt a different chakra signature enter the fray, but he didn't have time to see if it was friend of foe. The blue eyed leader appeared behind Nawaki and kicked him in the back, slamming him into a tree. Nawaki dropped trembling onto a branch.

The missing-nin strode towards Nawaki, his blue ringed eyes glaring triumphantly at Nawaki. Nawaki didn't have enough energy to control his facial expressions. As the missing-nin grabbed him by his collar and drew a kunai, Nawaki was pretty sure he looked terrified.

The kunai came down, aimed at Nawaki's bare neck. Nawaki closed his eyes and pictured his mother's face. He didn't want his last image to be of a random missing-nin.

Suddenly, the missing-nin was jerked to the side, and Nawaki dropped onto the branch, landing on his hands and knees. He looked around wildly, and saw the missing-nin slam into a tree trunk, before collapsing on the ground. He looked for the other two, but found both of them in a heap. They didn't look like they would be getting up any time soon.

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out.

"So you can beat me, but you can't beat a few missing-nin? Really Nawaki?"

Nawaki turned his head and looked up, completely stunned.

Hisa sat calmly on a branch above him, twirling a kunai and smirking down at him.


	41. Chapter 41

Nawaki's first reaction was fear. He drew a kunai out and kept it ready, watching Hisa warily.

"Are you here for a rematch?"

Hisa rolled her eyes and jumped off her branch, landing lightly beside him. Nawaki tensed and tried to jump away, but Hisa put her hand on his shoulder.

"Relax. I'm not here to fight you."

Seeing Nawaki's sceptical look, she sighed.

"Look Nawaki, I needed to have you under my control for my plan to work. But you fought and you beat me, so I'm not going to waste more time trying again. I promise, ok?

Nawaki nodded. He knew that Hisa wasn't a liar-if you didn't include lying to enemies on missions- so if she said she wasn't going to fight him, he believed her.

"So if you're not here to fight, then why did you help me? I thought you hated me for hiding my sharingan."

Hisa sighed again.

"Frankly, I've no idea how I feel for you right now. I'm angry that you lied and hid this from us, but I've had time to cool down. I'm not going to judge you until I've heard the full story. Right now Oki's life is in danger, and that's what matters to me. So you're my teammate for now."

"And friend?" he asked with a grin.

She glared at him.

"Don't push it. So, do you have a plan?"

Nawaki blinked.

"Wait, so you're letting me lead this rescue? After I beat you?"

Hisa rolled her eyes again, but she looked angrier this time.

"Yes Nawaki. Believe it or not I'm willing to follow your instructions if it means saving Oki's life. I'm not petty enough to hold your win against you at a time like this."

She huffed angrily and turned away. Nawaki quickly placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, that came out wrong. I know you're not like that."

He tilted his head upwards and felt his eyes grow sharper. He pointed to the spot on the ground where the chakra trail he had been following was slowly growing fainter.

"I know how to find Oki-it's a trick with the sharingan that I can use. Let's go?"

Hisa was at his side in seconds and for some reason this made Nawaki feel happy inside. Finally their teamwork seemed to be coming together fully.

He took off, following the trail. Hisa followed behind him, watching his back in case more missing-nin showed up. Luckily, none appeared. The two of them were silent, not wanting to risk being overheard.

After a while, Nawaki realised something.

"Hisa, how did you find me so fast?" he asked, keeping his voice low and his head forward.

"I followed your natural chakra trail. You crossed over yourself twice, which made it easier for me to skip parts of your trail. I almost got lost once, but I managed in the end."

Nawaki nodded once, to show that he had heard her. With that piece of information secure, he lapsed back into silence. It was easier for both of them.

After a long time spent jumping from branch to branch in silence, Nawaki started to recognize some of the landmarks from his crystal ball.

"We're almost there." he whispered.

They came to a stop on a sturdy branch. The lair was a good few metres away from where they were, but Nawaki could still see it. He longed to just charge in there and bulldoze over all the missing-nin, but he couldn't do that now. For the first time Hisa was trusting him to lead, and he wasn't going to mess up.

"I can see where they're keeping Oki." he murmured "There are at least three missing-nin guarding her. I think that's all."

Hisa nodded, frowning thoughtfully.

"Will I distract them while you rescue Oki? I'm pretty sure that the guy we caught earlier wet his pants when he saw my Rinnegan. Maybe it will have the same effect on these three."

Nawaki snorted slightly.

"Somehow, I doubt that it will. But I think that's our best shot. I don't want them to see my sharingan so I'll try to avoid being noticed."

"Too late." a reedy voice snarled from behind them.

They turned just as the missing-nin jumped off the branch behind them. He swiped his sword at Hisa, who ducked. The other three missing-nin hadn't noticed anything yet. The man swiped again, and this time Hisa was unable to duck. Nawaki reacted on instinct, shoving his kunai at the man's chest. The missing-nin fell off the branch, coughing and choking as he fell. Neither Nawaki nor Hisa bothered to see where he landed.

"Alright then, " Nawaki whispered "So _now _there are three missing-nin guarding Oki."

Hisa smirked slightly.

"Are you ready?"

Nawaki nodded.

"Just run in there and start fighting. Try and be as loud and distracting as possible-shouldn't be hard for you."

Hisa nodded.

"So while I do all the hard work and possibly get killed, you untie Oki and pretend to be her knight in shining armour? That sounds about right."

Nawaki grinned and gave her a small shove.

"Get going. If you need help call for it."

!

Hisa had done a lot of stupid things in her life. Most were minor things, and were forgotten by the next day. Occasionally she would slip up and would have to spend a few weeks resolving the problem. She had almost died a few times on missions when she hadn't been careful enough, but had always pulled through in the end.

But strolling into the lair of three fully grown missing-nin without anyone by her side? Stupidest thing yet.

She walked slowly through the trees until she reached the clearing. All three of the missing-nin were walking around the perimeter of the cave. Their weapons were drawn and their eyes were narrowed, looking for the slightest hint of trouble.

Hisa walked straight up to them until she was only a few metres away. They had noticed her by this stage, and their eyes bulged out comically as they stared at her. Purple Rinnegan eyes, hands in pockets, completely alone and looked completely calm. Hisa waved at them.

"Hi." she said cheerfully. "Any chance I can have my friend back?"

They drew their weapons and advanced on her with a collective snarl. Hisa sighed.

"I guess that's a no, then." she said, before she stuck out her hands.

"Almighty Push!"

The men flew back until they slammed into the wall of the cave. One of them looked slightly terrified. Hisa was having a field day. She raised her hands into the air and decided to try intimidation.

"I am the God of Shinobi!" she declared loudly, almost _feeling _Nawaki's eye-roll from wherever he was hiding.

_Stop messing around._ The little Nawaki voice in her head hissed.

_I like to make an entrance. _She replied mentally.

If there were a few more missing-nin, or if one of them was directly threatening Oki, Hisa would be acting more seriously. But as it was, she was in control and feeling confident. She could almost _smell _the fear wafting from the smallest missing-nin. She barely managed to keep a straight face. They were terrified of a tiny girl with purple eyes. Although she hated the fear some of the Konoha citizens had for her, when it happened on missions it could be hilarious. It was a slight perk to the normal hatred she had for her eyes.

The biggest and burliest missing-nin slapped the small one on his shoulder.

"Pull yourself together," he snapped "She's only a little girl!"

_It seems like one of them has a bit of sense. _Hisa thought.

The one on the left with a face like a ferret leered at Hisa.

"So what's the plan? I say we kill her and take her eyes."

Hisa refrained from rolling her eyes. Barely.

_Yes, because it's not like anyone has tried _that _before._ she thought.

The missing-nin got to their feet, the big one dragging the small one up.

"Attack!" he yelled as he pulled out a kunai.

This time, Hisa let the grin appear on her face. She was going to enjoy this, because she was pretty sure that once they got back to Konoha, everything would get more complicated. Right now, she was going to live in the moment. If Nawaki didn't manage to save Oki…

Hisa was almost glad when the small one threw a kunai at her. She threw herself into the fight, determined to forget the thought she hadn't finished.

!

Nawaki rolled his eyes as Hisa imitated Nagato. He doubted she even knew how alike she sounded. Then again, Nawaki had never met Nagato in person, just heard about him from his mother.

He snuck around the border of the clearing, making sure to stay hidden in the trees. The missing-nin were to engrossed in debating whether or not they should attack Hisa. (Nawaki almost sighed in relief when one of them finally yelled 'Attack!')

He managed to reach the back of the cave unseen. Instead of sneaking in the front, he made some hand-seals.

"Water Style: Cannon Ball Jutsu!"

This was one of Nawaki's best water techniques. He had created this particular form of it himself. A ball of water shot out of his mouth, hitting the rock directly in front of him, breaking through it and leaving nothing but a perfectly circular shaped hole behind. Nawaki quickly clambered through the hole. The cave was dark, but he was able to see Oki's chakra flow. Her eyes were closed and she was under a genjutsu.

Nawaki ran over to her as fast as he could. He could hear the sounds of a battle outside, which meant that Hisa was doing her part. Quickly he reached down and put a hand on Oki's shoulder.

"Kai." he said.

Oki's eyes snapped open and she stared at him in terror. Nawaki held his hands out in front of him.

"It's ok. It's me, Nawaki. We came to rescue you."

Still the panicked look in Oki's eyes didn't leave.

"Nawaki, we have to get out of here as fast as possible. Something bad is going to happen to either you or Hisa. I can sense it."

Nawaki nodded. Oki's déjà vu sense was never wrong. (Nawaki still had no idea what she was talking about most of the time, but her predictions worked.)

"Are you alright?" he asked, searching for any signs that she had been injured.

She nodded. "I'm fine. They didn't..." she trailed off, staring at Nawaki in confusion.

Nawaki realised that his eyes were on full display. He took a deep breath and waited for her reaction, trying not to show how nervous he was.

"You have the Sharingan." Oki said, her voice even.

Nawaki nodded.

"Since when?"

"Before I came to Konoha."

"Ah," Oki said "Does Hisa know?"

Nawaki nodded again, his nerves growing worse.

"Good. Well then, I guess you have an interesting story to tell us once we get out of here. Would you mind cutting me loose? I can't reach my weapons."

Nawaki nodded and bent down robotically, pulling out a kunai. His mind was replaying her reaction. Was she mad at him? Confused? She had seemed perfectly fine with him, but Nawaki didn't understand how she could be. He had lied to her about his whole identity.

"Nawaki." her voice jolted him out of his thoughts.

"Yes?" he asked. _This is it. This is where she tells you she hates you._

"Judging from the nosies outside, Hisa's fighting a tough battle. I think it would be best if you cut the ropes a little faster."

Nawaki blinked.

"Right." he said.

He studied the ropes carefully. They were tied tight, probably cutting into Oki. This angered him, but Hisa was doing a good enough job in killing the missing-nin. He needed to focus.

He brought his kunai down on the place where all the ropes seemed to knot together. It took him three tries to cut it fully, but finally the ropes fell loose.

Oki rubbed her arms slightly as she stood. She opened her mouth to speak, but never got the chance to.

The cave started to shake and an alarm started to blare. Nawaki's eyes widened as he cursed himself for not being more careful. The ropes had clearly been rigged, and Nawaki had been so distracted he hadn't noticed.

"Let's go." he said, charging straight at the entrance. "I think Hisa's fight just got a lot harder."

!

Hisa heard the alarm ring and resisted the urge to facepalm. They were really having a bad day.

The small missing-nin rushed at her and she flipped him over her shoulder, slamming him into a tree trunk and knocking him unconscious. She turned back to face the remaining two, kunai in hand.

Her eyes widened as she took in the sight before her. The number of missing-nin had swelled dramatically. There were around ten facing her, and more kept joining in. The alarm had clearly done its job.

Hisa's eyes narrowed as her playful mood evaporated. She would have to be careful or she wouldn't leave this fight alive.


	42. Chapter 42

Three of the missing-nin jumped at Hisa. The first one threw a giant shuriken at her, which she dodged. She didn't have time to catch her breath, as the other two threw a pair of giant shuriken at her, and she was forced to jump into the narrow gap between the two to avoid being ripped into pieces. Barely a second passed before she was assaulted by a barrage of kunai. She dodged most of them, and blocked the ones she didn't with her own kunai, but the missing-nin were relentless.

She heard a cry and snapped her head to the opening of the cave. Nawaki and Oki were standing there back to back, methodically cutting down missing-nin. Oki's eyes met hers for a second and Oki gave her a brief smile. In that second, Hisa was glad Nawaki had stopped her from going after the children.

Then another kunai almost took her eye out, and Hisa threw herself back into the fight.

Although she had the Rinnegan, she was still fighting at least ten missing-nin on her own. She managed to stay alive, but barely. It was time to call for back-up. She slammed her hands on the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

The giant cloud of smoke that covered the entire clearing didn't help Hisa much, but she could hear Nawaki cutting down more missing-nin. She hoped that Oki was doing alright. It was a bad idea to jump straight into a fight after being stuck in a genjutsu for a long time. But Hisa knew Oki could handle herself, so she focused on the animals she had summoned.

There was a giant centipede and a giant drill-beaked bird. They weren't Hisa's usual summons, but since Nawaki had blinded her snake-tailed chameleon she didn't have as much options.

The centipede took out a wave of missing-nin on the left, while the bird stabbed as much as it could on Hisa's right. This allowed Hisa a minute to rest, before a new wave of missing-nin appeared. The centipede tried to kill them, but three managed to stab kunai into its skull, killing it. Hisa had no time to mourn the centipede as the bird was taken out by a fire style technique.

There was one part of the Rinnegan summoning technique that Hisa had never tried before. But as the missing-nin surrounded her, she decided to do it. She pictured Nawaki and Oki, then slammed her hands on the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

When the smoke cleared, an extremely confused Oki stood there.

"Hisa!" she said "What… How…?"

"I tried to summon you and Nawaki." Hisa explained, thrusting her sword into a missing-nin's stomach. "Unfortunately, I think I left Nawaki behind."

They glanced across the field to where Nawaki was standing, staring confusedly around him. His eyes travelled to Hisa and he finally noticed Oki standing there. Hisa waved at him.

"Sorry!" she yelled "I'll give her back in a minute! Thanks for sharing!"

Nawaki rolled his eyes before turning back to face his own group of missing-nin. Hisa noticed that although there were piles of injured missing-nin scattered around him, none appeared to be dead. Nawaki _still _wasn't killing, just injuring. That was probably why more missing-nin were choosing to fight him over Hisa.

Hisa turned back to Oki just in time to see her stab a missing-nin in his foot. The man fell onto the ground, and Oki finished him with a kick to the head. He wouldn't be conscious for a long time.

"Help me finish these ones and then we can help Nawaki!" she yelled. (It was getting harder to hear each other over the sound of metal clanging.)

Oki nodded, and the two of them went to work.

Although Hisa's teamwork with Nawaki wasn't always as good as she would like, her teamwork with Oki was flawless. They fought back-to-back, using their swords to cut down anyone who came close enough to them. They had perfected their kenjutsu style over the years, and the technique they used let them defend each other when they couldn't do it themselves.

In a matter of minutes, the remaining missing-nin had either left to fight Nawaki, or were lying on the ground. Four new ones came along, but they all looked nervous as they took in the sight of their injured comrades. Hisa turned to Oki.

"Go help Nawaki. I'll take care of these four."

Oki nodded and took off across the clearing. Hisa vaguely wondered where the hell Konohamaru was. Surely he had heard the sounds of battle by now?

The first missing-nin made a set of hand-seals, and his hand became covered in stone. He swung his arm at Hisa, who ducked and kicked him in the groin. He fell coughing to the ground, and she stabbed her sword into his neck before he could get back up.

The second one tried to place a genjutsu on her, but Hisa dispelled it before it could take full effect. She continued charging at them. The two of the remaining three put their hands together in a hand-seal. Mud shot out of their mouth, spreading across the forest floor. Hisa was forced to jump into a tree to avoid it, but it gave her the chance to throw kunai at them. Two of them managed to pull back in time, but the third was too busy trying to finish his mud jutsu. The kunai went straight into his eye and he collapsed to the ground, dead.

The third one turned and stared at Hisa, rage visible in his eyes.

"She killed Ibuki!" he turned to his female companion, who was staring at Hisa with her eyes narrowed. "That bitch killed Ibuki!"

Hisa rolled her eyes. (Her eyes were getting quite a workout today.) This made the missing-nin even madder.

"I'll kill you." he growled.

"Oh good," she replied "It's not like you've already been trying to do that for the past ten minutes..."

With a howl of rage he flung himself at her. His sword strokes were vicious and powerful, but lacked control. Hisa parried him with one hand, while hiding a kunai behind her back with the other. When he left himself unguarded for a split second, Hisa stabbed the kunai into his hand, forcing him to drop the sword. She kicked him off the branch with a side-kick to his stomach. He landed heavily on the ground, but got back up.

Hisa's attention switched to the female, who was making a set of hand-seals.

"Ninja art: Flying Nail Mist!"

Hundreds of nail's shot out of the woman's mouth, aimed directly at Hisa. There were too many of them to dodge, and they were too small to block. Hisa stuck out her hands.

"Almighty Push!"

The nails flew straight back into the woman's face, distracting her for a few seconds. Hisa jumped down and stabbed a kunai directly into the woman's chest, before jumping away. She barely managed to avoid the shuriken that the man threw at her. He looked twice as angry now that he was the last one standing.

"Look," Hisa said with a sigh "You've clearly got anger issues. I don't really care, but you've probably got some dark backstory about why you became a missing-nin. So instead of wasting my time listening to you, then trying to make you change your ways, I'm going to give you ten seconds to run. Otherwise I'll kill you."

The man charged at her and Hisa stuck out her hands. He came to a stop and considered her words. The anger in his eyes was still there, but he seemed to understand that he couldn't win this fight.

"Five seconds." Hisa informed him.

The man looked at her with pure loathing, before turning around and jumping into a tree. He took off away from the clearing.

Hisa smiled. Naruto would be proud.

She turned around and saw Nawaki and Oki fighting at least twenty missing-nin. They were barely managing to stay alive. She took off in a sprint, aiming at one of the missing-nin at the edge of the fight.

Suddenly, she heard Oki scream.

"Nawaki!"

It was like watching a slow motion movie. One second Nawaki was fighting, his eyes spinning as he tried to keep track of all the weapons been thrown at him, as well as checking to make sure Oki was ok. Hisa's head jerked over to watch him fight, wondering why Oki had screamed.

All it took was one stray missing-nin. The sword slashed across Nawaki's chest, drawing blood. It didn't go deep enough to cut the heart, but Hisa knew that it had punctured at least one of his lungs. Nawaki's face was frozen in shock for a second, before he clutched his chest and fell on his knees.

"Nawaki!" Oki screamed again, desperately trying to keep all the missing-nin away from her injured friend.

Hisa froze, eyes wide as Nawaki turned his head to look at her. There was a trickle of blood leaking out of his mouth. His eyes met hers, sharingan slowly fading, and he smiled.

Hisa screamed.

It was like their first mission all over again. The pulse of pure chakra that emanated from her body shoved all the missing-nin away. The lucky ones were blasted into the air, landing far away from the clearing. The unlucky ones were slammed into tree trunks so hard that their spines shattered. Some were decapitated by a branch.

The chakra didn't go low enough to push Nawaki or Oki, who had knelt down beside him, but it did uproot the nearest trees. Hisa didn't even spare any of the missing-nin a glance. She made her way over to Nawaki and Oki, skidding onto her knees as she looked at the wound.

"How bad is it?" she asked, ignoring the slightly hysterical edge to her voice.

There were tears in Oki's eyes, but she didn't let them spill over.

"The sword punctured both his lungs. The left one has already collapsed, but the right one is holding out. I'd say it'll last for ten minutes, twenty at the very best."

"Can you heal it?" Hisa asked.

Oki shook her head, face scrunched up.

"I'm not a medic-nin. The only thing I studied was eye surgery in case anything happened to your rinnegan on missions."

An idea struck Hisa then. It was insane, but it could possibly work.

"The Rinnegan. It has a seventh power, called the Outer Path. I'm not sure of its full power, but I think it can bring the dead back to life, as well as keeping you alive if you're at death's doorstep. I locked it away, so I can't access it without Naruto's help. But if I gave one of my eyes to one of you…"

Oki nodded excitedly.

"That could work! I'm not qualified but I think I can perform the surgery. It'll hurt though."

"Do it." Hisa said without hesitation.

Below them, Nawaki stirred. His breathing was ragged, but he managed to mumble a few words.

"Swap." he said, his voice rough. "Give me… Rinnegan. Hisa… Sharingan."

Hisa was about to object, but Nawaki's eyes opened and he stared at her with an intensity Hisa had never seen before.

"Do it… Please." he whispered.

Oki nodded. She reached into her bag and pulled out a small scalpel. Hisa ripped a bit of cloth from her uniform and bit down on it, preparing for the pain to come.

The operation took five minutes, and it was very painful. Oki worked at an almost frenzied pace, swapping their eyes around as quickly as she could. Once the Sharingan was in Hisa's eye, Oki instructed her to keep it closed. She then put the Rinnegan in Nawaki's eye.

Nawaki closed his eyes and lay there for a minute. Hisa and Oki were silent, waiting for his reaction.

He opened his eyes and stared calmly up at both of them.

"It's not here." he said. "The Outer Path isn't here."

"What?" Hisa yelled. "But you don't have anything sealing your powers away! You should be able to access all seven paths!"

Nawaki shook his head slightly, then winced.

"Six Paths here." he rasped "I can feel them. No Seventh."

"How…?" Hisa whispered.

Oki's tears were running down her cheeks by now.

"It was always a flawed copy." she said softly. "Uzumaki and Hyuga DNA, instead of Senju and Uchiha. It makes sense that it would lack something."

"No." Hisa said shaking her head. "No, no, no. Nawaki you are not dying on us. The Seventh Path is there. It has to be."

Nawaki smiled slightly. The trickle of blood got heavier. As Hisa looked into his eyes-one Sharingan, one Rinnegan- she realised something.

"You knew." she said flatly. "You knew that it wouldn't work."

Nawaki shook his head again.

"I know that I'm dying. That's all. There's no way to stop it." He coughed, blood spraying onto Hisa's jacket. "I wanted to give you my Sharingan." he was mouthing the words by this stage. "To say sorry, and to say thanks."

"You have nothing to be sorry about." Hisa said, still refusing to believe that this was happening.

"I do." Nawaki mumbled. "Minefield. I was too hard on you. Didn't listen. Sorry. it secret. Sorry."

"Nawaki…" that was all Hisa could say.

"Promise me one thing." he said

"Anything." Hisa vowed.

Nawaki grinned and for a moment it was just the three of them hanging out and joking together. It made Hisa's chest ache knowing that it would never be the same.

"Use the Sharingan well." he said "and don't take yourself so seriously. I know you can become the strongest shinobi in the world one day."

"Thank you." she whispered, not sure what else to say.

Oki was the one to break the silence.

"Do you have anything you want us to do?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"Tell Mom and Sasuke… I love them. Tell Naruto… thanks."

Oki nodded.

"Anything else?"

Nawaki's eyes strayed to Oki, and suddenly Hisa knew exactly what he was going to ask for.

"I'll be over here." she muttered, standing up and ignoring the look of confusion on Oki's face.

She made her way to a tree stump and sat down, keeping her Sharingan eye closed. She still couldn't believe this was happening. It was all too fast.

Dimly, she could make out some of Nawaki and Oki's conversation. She knew that they needed some privacy, so she tuned them out as best she could.

!

Nawaki stared up at Oki with pain in his chest. His left lung felt like it was on fire, and it was getting harder to breathe in his right. But he was determined to tell Oki everything. She looked down at him in confusion, but he knew she was listening. He filled his lung up with as much air as he could, trying not to let the pain get to him.

"I saw you for the first time when I was six, and the first thing I thought was: _She's nice. I'll try making friends with her. _I think that I thought you were pretty, but I was too young to understand what that meant. You were really nice to me, the only person I actually liked in the class. Then we had a few… incidents, and I started to worry about how I felt towards you. I knew I was too young for these feelings."

He took another breath. He didn't care if this was corny or cheesy; he wasn't going to die without telling her everything.

"I talked it over with my mom, and she told me to focus on being your friend until we were old enough to try something more. So I waited, and waited. When you turned twelve, I thought about asking you, but I decided that we still weren't old enough."

Another breath. This was the last part.

"But now… well I don't think I'm going to get any older. So this might sound like a stupid request for someone who's dying, but it's the only thing that I really want right now."

Oki's hand reached down and she wiped the blood off his lips.

"Ask me." she said.

So he did.

!

Hisa was keeping a close eye on the missing-nin. The ones that were still alive were peering out fearfully from behind trees. None of them dared to go near her after witnessing her lose control.

That didn't stop her from watching them. Anything to distract her from the boy dying behind her. Because if she thought of Nawaki she would start crying, and then the missing-nin would know she was feeling miserable and attack.

She glared at them with pure hate in her eyes. She longed to get up and kill them all, but she had decided to wait for Oki. Oki deserved to get revenge as much as she did.

She heard footsteps walking across the grass, and turned to watch Oki walk towards her. She couldn't even see Nawaki from this distance, but she knew he was there, somewhere on the other side of the clearing.

Oki reached her side. She was wearing the coldest expression Hisa had ever seen on Oki. She took a deep breath and prepared herself to ask the question she was dreading.

"Is he…"

Oki shook her head, her eyes trained on the missing-nin.

"He was almost there, but after we had finished… saying goodbye, he told me to leave him and help you. He said that he doesn't want his body brought back to Konoha. He'd rather be left to nature."

"Did you two…"

Oki nodded.

"Yes. It was something I had wanted for a long time, but it was bittersweet. I don't really want to talk about it."

Hisa was silent, staring into the forest. She stood up and dusted herself off, before opening her right eye. She could see clearly through her new Sharingan, but she could feel it draining her chakra at a much faster rate than the Rinnegan.

"Let's kill these bastards."

Oki unsheathed her sword, and Hisa knew that her friend wouldn't have any problem with killing these people.

That was good, because Hisa didn't plan on showing any mercy.

**A/N. So this is the chapter where everything starts getting darker and the readers start going WTF. I know the eye swapping is exactly like Kakashi Gaiden, but that's intentional. Um… other than that all I have to say is please don't kill me! The story is far from over. Thanks again for all the reviews. I'm not sure about update dates, but I'll try and update as quickly as I can. Just to clear things up, Sakura never met Nagato, she just heard about him from Naruto.**


	43. Chapter 43

Nawaki knew it was almost over when his vision started to go black around the edges. The pain in his chest was so agonizing that he was almost happy it was over. If he focused, he could still feel the tingle of Oki's lips on his, before he had asked her to leave. He didn't want her to have to watch him die. The kiss hadn't been the romantic moment he had dreamt of, but now he had no regrets when it came to her.

He stared up at the sky, wondering how much regrets he had. He regretted not revealing the truth about his identity, but when Hisa got back to Konoha with a Sharingan the truth would come out anyway. Again, it wasn't how he imagined it would go, but it did ease his mind.

Nawaki's thoughts turned to his mother. He would miss her the most, and he knew she would miss him the most. Although he had made bonds in Konoha, his mother was the only person that he was comfortable admitting he loved. Nawaki hoped that his death would bring her back to Konoha, and that she could resolve the issues that drove her away. He wished he could have discovered the full reason behind her deserting the village, but he wouldn't get the chance to now.

He blinked twice as his new right eye began to adjust. The Rinnegan was draining his chakra. His body wasn't suited to housing a Rinnegan, but he doubted he would live long enough to die from chakra exhaustion.

His blackness at the edge of his vision was slowly beginning to expand. He thought he could make out a shadowy figure looming over him, but by this time his brain had started to shut down. He could no longer tell what was real and what was in his head.

He remembered the story of his mother's old sensei Kakashi. He knew how Obito Uchiha had given Kakashi one of his eyes, and Kakashi had gone back to Konoha believing Obito dead. It was almost exactly like what was happening now.

_Except this time, _Nawaki thought as his body went numb, _I really am going to die. I guess history doesn't always repeat itself._

Then the pain in his right lung reached its peak, and Nawaki's world went dark.

!

They stood amongst the slaughtered for a while, not quite sure what to do. Hisa cleaned the blood off her sword, while Oki checked to make sure that every single missing-nin was dead. Hisa was starting to worry about Oki, the cold empty expression hadn't left her face yet.

She watched as Oki kicked over the feebly stirring body of a young missing-nin who couldn't be older than sixteen. He moaned, clutching the kunai lodged in his side. Oki raised her sword and for a second Hisa was tempted to ask her to spare his life. But then she remembered that these were the people who had killed Nawaki, and her feelings of mercy vanished. Oki stabbed her sword into his throat, and his moans were replaced by gurgles.

He was the last one to die. Once Oki had finished checking, she came and sat beside Hisa. For a moment, they just sat in silence. Then Hisa spoke.

"We need to find Konohamaru and explain to him what's happened. We'll have to tell him the full story, there's no hiding it now."

Oki nodded and got to her feet.

"How do we find him?"

Hisa held out her hand.

"I gave him a special kunai. I can try to teleport both of us. It'll be hard, and very dangerous, but right now I don't really care about that."

Oki nodded and grabbed Hisa's hand. Hisa knew it was terrible, but she was glad Oki had also seen Nawaki die. It made her feel like she wasn't alone in her misery.

She took a deep breath and emptied her mind. It was a lot harder to do than normal, but also easier because she was desperate to escape the feelings of grief. It took her twenty seconds to locate the kunai she had given Konahamaru. She had filled it up with her chakra, but not to the brim. That way all she had to do was push some chakra into it, then yank it all out. He was at least two miles away. Hisa had never done a teleportation this difficult, but she was feeling lucky.

Or perhaps she was feeling suicidal. Either way, she was doing the jutsu.

She focused on the thin link between her chakra in her body and her chakra in the kunai. The greater the distance, the thinner the link, so Hisa had to strain hard to push her chakra into it. Once she felt it fill to the top, she quickly pulled her chakra back out again. As she began to teleport, she gripped Oki's hand tightly, hoping that she could teleport the two of them successfully.

The next thing she knew, her chakra pathways were burning and she was falling hard onto a tree branch. Dazed, she looked up and saw Konohamaru staring down at her in concern.

"Hisa what-"

She blacked out.

!

She didn't know how long it took for her to wake up. Both her arms were throbbing with pain, but she managed to sit up and look around. Konohamaru was sitting across from her. When he noticed that she was awake, he ran across and helped her sit up.

"Hisa! Are you ok?"

She nodded, not quite sure how to start explaining.

"Konohamaru-sensei, Nawaki is…"

Konohamaru sighed, pain visible in his eyes.

"It's ok Hisa. Oki told me everything."

Oki!

Hisa jumped up, ignoring the pain, and looked wildly around.

"Where is she? Is she ok? What happened to her after I did the teleportation?"

Konohamaru put his hand on Hisa's shoulder, calming her down slightly.

"She was in the same condition as you. She woke up ten minutes earlier. She's in pain, but she'll pull through."

Hisa dropped onto the ground like a limp rag-doll. She curled her legs up and rested her chin on her knees.

"I almost lost her." she mumbled quietly. "I wasn't thinking straight after Nawaki. I didn't care what happened to us, and I was _glad _that she was suffering with me. What kind of idiot am I?"

"Hisa."

Hisa's head jerked up. Oki stood in front of her, leaning against a tree. The cold expression was still on her face, but her eyes had softened slightly.

"Remember what Nawaki told you." she said "Don't take yourself so seriously. I don't know exactly what went down between you and Nawaki, but none of this is your fault. Things like this happen on a mission, you couldn't have predicted the outcome. Don't be too hard on yourself. It's as much my fault for getting kidnapped in the first place as it is yours."

Hisa didn't know what to say after that. She just let Oki crouch down and wrap her arms around her. They stayed like that for a long time, Hisa sobbing, angry and tearless, into Oki's shoulder. Oki holding her, letting her get it out of her system.

Finally, Hisa ran out of steam. She pushed away from Oki and turned to look at Konohamaru.

"What happens now?" she asked, her voice dry and rough.

Konohamaru looked just as sad as Hisa felt, but he also looked slightly confused. Hisa understood why. Konohamaru hadn't seen Nawaki die, just heard it from the two of them. It would take some time for the news to sink in.

"I found the children and managed to rescue them." Konohamaru said after a pause, "So since the mission is complete, the best thing to do would be to head back to Konoha. We'll talk to Naruto and we'll figure out what to do about…" His eyes drifted towards Hisa's closed right eye. "Nawaki's parentage claims. I had a hunch for a long time, and so did Naruto. To be honest, it was one big elephant in the Hokage building. I'm sorry for not telling you, but Naruto didn't want anyone to know. I myself only know part of the whole story, and I have a feeling Naruto only knows part of it too." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, a look of grief on his face. "The only person who knows the full story is Sakura, and no one knows where she is. When she finds out about Nawaki's death, things will get a lot more complicated."

Hisa pushed herself to her feet and jumped into the nearest tree.

"We have a long journey back." she said dully. "We might as well get started now."

Konohamaru looked uncertain.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for a while? I'd understand…"

Oki was the one who answered him.

"There's no point to staying here. There's nothing left here for us."

!

They spent three hours jumping through trees before they broke the silence. Konohamaru stayed a little way in front of them. He preferred to show his emotions in privacy, and both of them could respect that. Hisa knew he felt guilty, but she didn't know yet how to convince him that it wasn't his fault.

Hisa and Oki jumped tirelessly from tree to tree. Neither of them could find the energy to break the heavy silence that hung over them. After three hours, Oki spoke.

"How are you going to cope? People were already scared of you with your Rinnegan, but hundreds of shinobi lost family members in the war thanks to a sharingan. Madara, Obito, even Sasuke. They all are feared not only by civilians but by shinobi too. How do you think they'll react to you?"

Hisa laughed once, but it was a bitter laugh.

"Do you know what Oki? I don't actually care. I've spent all this time worrying about how they'll see me, wanting them to like me. But now? I couldn't care less what they think. My family will accept me, Naru… Dad will understand. You won't shun me, and neither will Konohamaru. That's all that matters to me, and that's all that should."

She laughed again, slightly hysterical.

"I should have figured this out years ago, but I didn't. Nawaki had to _die _for me to understand what's really important. How messed up is that? What the hell is wrong with me?"

"Stop." Oki said. "Stop trying to put yourself down. Nawaki basically told you not to hold his death against yourself. It was his dying wish for you. So do it, if not for you then for him."

Hisa was quiet after that.

!

They arrived back in Konoha in the middle of the night. Hisa kept her eye shut as they passed by the sentries. Kotetsu gave them a friendly wave, not noticing their missing member. Izumo was snoring in the back of the guardhouse.

Once they were inside, they didn't even need to discuss it. They headed straight for the Hokage building.

Naruto was awake, sorting through the mounds of never-ending paperwork. He smiled as they walked in, but it soon turned into a frown when he noticed Nawaki was missing. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it once he noticed Hisa's right eye. He raised an eyebrow at her.

Hisa opened her eye.

Naruto's eyebrows shot all the way up into his hair. He flicked his head to Hisa, then to Oki, then to Konohamaru, then back at Hisa. Then he slumped back in his chair.

"Well," he said at last, "I'm guessing you have a story to tell me."

!

Once they had finished telling Naruto the whole story, Hisa could almost see the gears turning in his brain. He sighed once and put his head in his hands.

"This is a mess." he mumbled "This is such a big mess. I'm so sorry that this happened to you. I never thought that Nawaki…" He raised his head to look at the two youngest members.

"I'm going to need a bit of time to figure something out. I don't think the two of you should go back home yet. There's a spare bedroom down the hall with two beds, you two get some sleep. I'll call in some people I trust and we'll figure this out."

"What do we tell anyone if they ask?" Hisa asked.

Naruto ran his hand through his hair, much like Konohamaru had done earlier.

"You won't meet anyone tonight. Tomorrow I'll wake you up and tell you what I've decided. Until then just get some sleep. If I'm being honest, you're going to need it."

They left the office and made their way down the hall. Naruto would inevitably call Sasuke, and Hisa didn't feel like explaining why his son's right eye was now in her head.

She climbed into the bed, thinking that she wouldn't get much sleep tonight. Nawaki's smile as he lay dying echoed through her head. But despite that, she was too exhausted, mentally and physically, to stay awake for very long.

Within a few minutes, both she and Oki were sound asleep.

!

Sasuke shook as Naruto finished recounting the story Team 7 had told him. He didn't even notice he was shaking until Naruto reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"What happens now?" Sasuke asked, his normally smooth voice hoarse and choked.

Naruto turned around to look at the other three people in the room. Out of the three of them, Konohamaru, Sai and Shikamaru, he was looking at Shikamaru for the answer. Shikamaru sighed and stepped forward.

"From the amount of evidence that we know of, there are two possible scenarios. The first is that Nawaki is truly dead. In this case, I imagine Sakura will come to Konoha, if not to discuss herself then at least to confirm his death."

Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto noticed Sasuke's shaking getting worse. His face was as blank as ever.

"What's the second scenario?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru sighed again.

"We know that Sakura's been in contact with… Him. I know you said he could be trusted, but I still don't see him passing up on the opportunity to 'help' Nawaki. If this scenario is true- and it's very likely to be- then we're in a lot more trouble than if Nawaki was dead."

Konohamaru stood across from Shikamaru and glared at him.

"Look, tell me the truth. Which scenario is most likely to be true? I've just lost one of the kids I was supposed to protect, so don't fling hope into my face unless you can back it up."

Shikamaru didn't even flinch.

"Knowing… Him, and from what we've gathered about his patterns, they the second scenario is most likely to be true. Nawaki's alive, but we're in big trouble."

Naruto turned back to the window, staring out at the city. He would do anything to protect Konoha, but since becoming Hokage he had learnt that he couldn't do it all on his own. This was an extremely complicated situation, and there were too many influences for any of them to predict what would happen.

"So now we wait," Naruto said, "We wait, and we prepare."

Behind him, Sasuke clenched his hands into fists.

"If he comes…"

Naruto didn't even let him finish.

"We still don't have any real proof that he's gone back to his old ways. He switched sides in the war and that's what most likely made us win. He's a good person."

Sasuke still didn't look satisfied, so Naruto changed tack.

"You were like him once, but now you're protecting this village by my side. If you can change, why can't he?"

Naruto had a point, Sasuke knew this. But that didn't make the uneasiness go away. He didn't know how to explain it, but he knew that Naruto was wrong. Something big was brewing, Sasuke could feel it.

!

When Nawaki opened his eyes, his first thought was that he was dead. He was surrounded by pitch black darkness, and he wasn't in pain. He was a bit disappointed, he had expected the afterlife to be… brighter.

Suddenly, he became aware that he wasn't alone. He shot up, surprised to see that his new rinnegan and his sharingan were both activated. He could see that the figure was a grown-man, but his face was hidden. When the man spoke, Nawaki knew who he was.

"Calm yourself child. As I have told you before, I am not your enemy."

It was the man from his first Chunin Exams, the one who had saved his life when he had fallen off the bridge. The one with the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Nawaki tried to stand, but for some reason it was hard to move. It wasn't painful, more like numb. The man noticed his efforts.

"I'd advise you to stay seated for a bit longer. You're rinnegan was draining too much of your chakra, so I had to put Senju DNA into your bloodstream. It was the only way to save your life, I'm sure you understand."

Nawaki realised that his rinnegan wasn't draining his chakra anymore. In fact, his body felt stronger. Still, he felt sad when he heard the man's words. He had joked with his mother about Senju DNA being everywhere, but now that it was inside him, it wasn't funny.

"How am I still alive? How did you know how to find me?"

He turned to look at the man fully. He knew that the man wouldn't hurt him, but there was something about him that terrified Nawaki.

"Who are you?" he asked "How…"

Even though Nawaki couldn't see his face, he knew that the man was smiling.

"I saved you because you and I are family. My name is Obito Uchiha."

**A/N And this is where part 1 of the story ends. I was originally planning to split the story in two, but I've decided to just put it all in one. I'll be taking a short break from the story, so I'll probably update in a week or two. **

**I don't normally like asking for reviews, so this is probably the only time I will. If you have read up to here, could you please leave a review? I'd appreciate it a lot.**

**I know a lot of things are unclear, but I'm hoping to explain them as the story goes on. Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed.**


	44. Chapter 44

Naruto called Hisa and Oki into his office the next morning. Both looked slightly sleepy, but listened alertly to Naruto.

"We've decided to try and keep this quiet. Obviously, people are going to notice your sharingan Hisa, and we've agreed to leave it up to you what to do when they ask. You can tell them that it's none of their business, or you can tell them the full story. We'd prefer if you tell only a few people, but after everything you've been through we'd understand if you told everyone. The same goes for you Oki."

Hisa waited until Naruto was finished before replying.

"I can't speak for Oki, but I know I'll only tell a few people. Mom and Obito obviously will find out, but I'll tell them to keep it a secret. Everyone else can start rumours or whatever, I won't tell any of them the truth."

Oki spoke next.

"Mom and Dad already knew, so they won't be surprised by the Sharingan. I'm not sure yet if I'll tell Inori-she's not good at keeping secrets."

Naruto was pleased with their answers. He smiled gently at them.

"Go home and take a few days off. Try and get back to a normal routine as soon as possible. We're going to investigate Nawaki's death thoroughly, and I promise to tell you anything we find out as long as there's full proof behind it."

Oki spun around and left, but Hisa lingered behind. Naruto went back to his paperwork, but after a minute he noticed that Hisa was still there.

"Are you ok? I mean, I know you're not ok, but is there anything I can-"

He was cut off as Hisa flung her arms around him and crushed him in a tight hug. For a few seconds, Naruto was stunned. But then he hugged her back, gently but firmly.

"I love you Hisa." he said softly.

He heard a vague noise that could be roughly translated as "Love you too." He grinned down at her.

After a minute, she drew away, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Naruto laughed slightly, but hid it before she noticed.

"Hinata will probably start worrying if you're not back soon. I'll see you at dinner time ok?"

She nodded once, still slightly shocked by her own actions.

"Sorry," she mumbled, "I think that all your ANBU guards saw that, and-"

He cut her off quickly.

"Hisa, don't ever apologize for giving me a hug. I love you and there's nothing wrong with showing that. Well, if it's family love. If it's love like me and your mother's, then _some things _aren't meant to be seen outside the bedroom…"

She scurried out of the office as fast as she could. Naruto kept the smile on his face until he was sure that she was gone. Then he let his head drop into his hands.

He had to believe that Obito Uchiha was not the man he had been years ago. He _had _to.

!

Once the man had introduced himself, Nawaki's first urge was to flee. This man had been majorly responsible for the deaths of thousands of shinobi. Although he had changed sides, his mother had explained to him that Naruto and possibly Kakashi were the only ones who fully understood why. To most of the world, this man was a dangerous mystery that would be better off dead. Speaking of which…

"I thought you were dead." Nawaki said "You've been off the radar for years now, according to Naruto. Why choose now to reveal yourself?"

The man chuckled again, which only made Nawaki more nervous. He knew the man wasn't going to hurt him, but nothing about him radiated pleasantness, especially his laughter.

"When the world hates you for what you've done, and you no longer have any purpose in your life, you'll find that the best thing for everyone is to pretend not to exist. Of course, I don't waste my time being idle. At first I tried to look out for Sasuke Uchiha, but soon it was clear that he was happy in Konoha. Well, not exactly happy-that boy doesn't know how to smile- but relatively so."

He paused to regard Nawaki, who listened patiently.

"For a while, I simply made a living. I had no goals other than waiting for death. Of course, I believe that was Tsunade's intention- to let the Rinnegan die out with me and become nothing but a bad memory. Judging from your right eye, that didn't work out, did it?"

Nawaki shook his head mutely, not knowing if he should interrupt or not. The man gave another low chuckle.

"Actually, her intention was to execute me for my crimes, but Naruto convinced her that I had changed. It's a good thing he did. I wasn't ready to die, and I was becoming sick of mass murdering. There would have been a lot of hassle if I had killed the Hokage and her elite guard."

There was no remorse in his voice at all. Nawaki was slowly getting the impression that this man wasn't entirely sane.

"So where was I? For a while, I made a living, hiding in the shadows. Once, I would have plotted revenge, or greatness. But I knew that my time for glory had passed. Sasuke was the new head of the Uchiha, and although he wasn't brilliant, he did a good job. At least, that's what I thought."

The man's chuckles were really starting to unnerve Nawaki.

"Imagine my surprise when around eight years after the war ends, I come face to face with Sakura Haruno, wearing a headband with a scratch through the Leaf insignia. _Surely not? _I thought, but it turned out to be true. There was another Uchiha in the world."

Nawaki was stunned. His mother had met this man? Where had he been during this? The man continued without waiting for Nawaki to say something.

"After that, my plotting became more focused. I had a new purpose now: to help you strengthen your abilities until you were the best you could be. It shall be a new generation of Uchiha, one with power and pride. _That _became my goal. I met with your mother a few more times. There were a lot of… interesting things happening to her, things she made me swear not to tell you unless she died."

Like all conversations Nawaki had regarding his family, he became confused. He opened his mouth to speak, but Obito continued before he could.

"So I started keeping tabs on you. When I heard that you had entered the Chunin Exams, I was interested. I knew that, much like your mother, I wouldn't be welcome if I went officially. So I snuck in to get an up-close and personal view. It's a good thing I did to, as I saved your life. After I introduced myself, I left quickly. My job there was done for the time being."

The man's tone turned slightly friendlier, although it still kept its sinister edge.

"And that brings us to the present. Here you are, after I saved you again. Not only do you have the Sharingan, but you also have the Rinnegan. This had exceeded my expectations. So now the question is, what do you want to do?"

Nawaki blinked. That hadn't been nearly as informative as he had hoped.

"So wait, why exactly do you want to help me so much? And why are you giving me a choice? Didn't you start a war because the girl you loved died? I need to know what happened during that war!"

The man gave a soft sigh, before sitting back down.

"A shame, I thought you would be satisfied with knowing why I was targeting you. But no, you want to find out what's in it for me. Very well, I'll tell you. But it's a long story."

"It's not like I have to leave urgently." Nawaki said, sitting more comfortably.

"Good. But I should warn you, a lot of it probably won't make sense, and some of it can definitely be considered insane."

Nawaki grinned slightly.

"I'm sitting in a dark underground… whatever this is, with two of the rarest and most powerful eyes on the planet. I've just been rescued by a man presumed dead, who apparently has decided that his new life purpose is to help me become powerful. Oh yeah, I should have died a day ago, and instead I was injected with Senju DNA. I've basically turned into a mini-version of you. I think I can handle a little more insanity."

!

The first person she met as she made her way down to the living area was Hinata. Hisa kept her right eye automatically closed to save chakra, but part of her was hoping that she wouldn't have to open it at all.

She made her way down the stairs to the kitchen. She was so lost in thought that she didn't see her mother until she ran into her. She jumped backwards in shock and looked up nervously. Hinata was staring down at her in concern.

"Hisa you're back! How did the mission go? Do you know why Naruto didn't leave his office last night?" She saw Hisa's closed eye. "What's wrong with your eye?"

She noticed Hisa's scared expression and knelt down beside her. Hisa almost shied away, but she steadied herself and took a deep breath. Hinata stared at her with growing concern.

Hisa opened her eye.

For one terrifying second, Hisa thought that Hinata was going to run away or scream. She could handle random civilians staring at her in terror, but not her own mother.

Hinata did nothing of the sort. Instead, she merely looked shocked, then pulled Hisa in for a hug. Hisa was stunned for the first second, then relaxed. Hinata would never let her family down. This was something all of them (Naruto, Obito and her) had come to realise.

Her mother pulled back and gazed down at her with gentle eyes.

"Do you feel like talking about it?" she asked softly.

Hisa shook her head, feeling like she was three years old again. Hinata seemed to understand.

"I'll get Naruto to explain it all. I made some ramen if you're hungry-it's in the pot."

Hisa nodded again.

"Ramen sounds good." she said at last.

Her mother's smile got wider. She gave Hisa one last hug, before vanishing up the stairs-no doubt to grill Naruto about the sudden appearance of a sharingan in their daughter's eye.

Hisa made her way over to the cooker. The ramen was simmering in the pot, just like Hinata had said. Hisa fished out a bowl and dumped some ramen in it, before sitting down at the family table. She had been too distraught last night to worry about food, but now that she was thinking slightly clearer, she realised that she was starving.

She was halfway through the bowl when Obito stumbled down the stairs. He blinked sleepily when he saw Hisa.

"Oh hey, you're back. Did it go well?"

He moved towards the fridge, expecting her to mutter something about how it went fine. When she didn't say anything, he turned around curiously.

Hisa was even more nervous now then she was with Hinata. Naruto and Hinata were her parents, and she knew deep down that they would never reject her. Obito was her older brother, and they loved each other (Although they would both choose ANBU torture over admitting it), but he had always been cheerful and light-hearted. Hisa had no idea how he would react. So she started with one of the most clichéd lines ever.

"Can I tell you a secret? Will you swear not to tell anyone else?"

He looked even more puzzled by this.

"Sure. You can tell me anything"

Suddenly, he gasped. Hisa thought that he had seen her closed eye and put two and two together.

"Oh kami, you're not pregnant are you? I can't handle that."

Hisa glared at him out of her one open eye.

"What? Obito, I'm eleven! Why the hell would you think I'm pregnant? I just… you're a moron, you know that?"

His shoulders slumped in relief. Grinning, he flopped down in the chair opposite her.

"Good. As long as it's not _that _kind of emergency, then I can handle it." He gazed curiously at her. "So? What is it? What's the big news?"

Hisa took a deep breath. Seeing as Obito had yet to notice her closed eye, she decided to start from the beginning.

"Nawaki and I had a fight on the mission-"

Obito interrupted almost at once, his grin getting wider.

"Oh? A lover's quarrel, was it? Don't worry, you'll kiss and make up soon enough."

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP!" Hisa yelled, having had enough.

Obito's grin faded and he looked slightly concerned.

"Sheesh, relax. I was only kidding. It's kinda obvious that he has a massive crush on Oki anyway. Which reminds me, Kawa's training down at the quarry. He asked me to tell you in case you felt like sparring."

Hisa filed that bit of information away for later. For now, she focused on getting through to her brother. It seems like starting from the beginning wasn't the best option after all. Time for the blunt approach.

"Nawaki died." she said, ignoring the pain in her chest that came with saying those words, "We fought, then we made up, then we rescued Oki from a group of missing-nin but before we could leave one of them cut both of Nawaki's lungs."

Obito's cheerful grin vanished. He looked solemnly at her.

"I'm sorry." he said gently, "If this table wasn't in the way, I'd hug you."

She chuckled slightly.

"It's ok. Mom and Dad have already hugged me enough. But anyway, there's a bit more to the story than that. I remembered that the Rinnegan came with a seventh path, but I had locked it away and Nar-Dad wasn't there to help me open it. So I gave my right eye to Nawaki so that he could use the Outer Path and survive. But it turns out that my Rinnegan only has six paths, I'm a faulty copy. Nawaki died anyway."

Obito stared at her right eye, finally paying attention to it.

"Oh, that's why your eye is closed. I thought the ramen broth had splashed you in the eye again-"

"That was one time!" Hisa interrupted. "But the real reason I asked you to keep a secret is this: I gave Nawaki my eye, but he gave me one of his."

Obito nodded.

"Well I can understand that. He probably felt bad about taking your eye, and didn't want you to only have one. But why's it a big secret? It doesn't affect your rinnegan, and a black pupil-less eye isn't that bad…"

Hisa sighed. Finally. It was time to show him.

Slowly, she opened her eye, blinking as the chakra in her head was sent into overdrive. Maintaining the Sharingan was going to take a lot of practise.

Obito stared at her.

"Ah," he said at last, "So that's why you want me to keep it a secret."

Hisa waited for him to elaborate. After a minute, Obito reached forward and snagged some of her noodles.

"You know, you could have just showed me straight away instead of explaining everything. I wouldn't have freaked out."

Hisa let her head hit the table. The good news was that nothing had changed between them. The bad news was that Obito was as annoying as ever.

!

"Where to start, where to start?" Obito Uchiha mused, tapping his fingers against his mask.

Nawaki waited, barely concealing his impatience. Finally, he was getting answers. He knew that Obito could lie to him. But somehow, Nawaki knew that he would not.

"I presume that you know about my 'death' when I was crushed by a rock and rescued by Madara? Well, I suppose this whole miserable story starts there…"


	45. Chapter 45

**A/N First off, sorry for not updating for such a long time. Part of it was because I have big exams coming up, and part of it was writer's block. A big part of this chapter is about Obito, and I'm finding it difficult to predict where the manga will take his character. He'll probably end up being OOC in this story, but I will try and explain why. There's always the danger when you write a fanfic about a show that hasn't finished yet that your story will end up being AU. I'll try and stick to cannon as much as I can.**

**That's all I'm going to say about it. If you haven't read the latest manga chapters I won't spoil it on you. Some of the stuff that Obito will talk about is canon, and some I just made up. Thanks again for all the reviews.**

"Madara Uchiha was an insane man. He had an unhealthy obsession with Hashirama Senju which lasted after his death. He had the man's face tattooed onto his chest! But anyway, when I first met him I knew that he was insane. He began to preach about how cruel this world was. He wanted to make a Utopia where no one would feel pain. The problem was that they also wouldn't have any freedom-it was a giant genjutsu. I'm sure your mother told you all about it."

Nawaki nodded. His mother had explained to him about Madara and Obito's plan, but she had never elaborated on why exactly Obito agreed with the plan. Did he really agree to it because one person died?

Obito seemed to read his mind.

"I'm sure you've heard the stories. How I decided to rule the world simply because the girl I loved died? I'll admit, there is a grain of truth in that story, but I was not that selfish."

Nawaki was honestly curious. He still didn't trust this man, and he knew that the man wasn't exactly sane. But then again, no shinobi really was completely sane-him included. Obito Uchiha was a legend, known as an insane criminal mastermind. But now Obito was telling him that there was more to the story than that. He was intrigued.

"The fact is that I am not the only person in this world that has lost a loved one. Before Rin died, Madara had pointed this out to me. He had explained that everyone in the world is forced to go through the pain of watching a loved one die. I had never experienced this pain, so his philosophy seemed ridiculous to me. However, once Rin died, it made a lot more sense."

He paused for a second here. Nawaki had a feeling that the man was watching him, scrutinizing him for a reaction. He kept his face carefully blank.

"I'll admit that part of me was selfish. I wanted to create this world simply so that I could be with Rin and Kakashi again. But the bigger part of me wanted to do this for the greater good. I truly believed that there was no other way to completely rid this world of pain and suffering. I still do believe that."

He glanced at Nawaki again. Nawaki kept his face blank.

"After Madara's death, I took his identity. It helped me set my plans into motion faster, as his reputation alone struck fear into many hearts. In that time, I did many… unforgivable things. I killed, I lied, I deceived. Do I regret it? At first I did, but then I realised that there was no point wasting what's left of my life wallowing in regret. I had spent so many years scheming that I simply didn't know how to stop."

He paused again, seemingly lost in thought. After a minute, he began to talk again.

"But I'm getting ahead of myself. My beliefs changed again in the middle of the Fourth Shinobi World War. I fought Kakashi one on one. He desperately attempted to change my mind, to make me see that people could still live after the deaths of their loved ones. It didn't work for a long time. I was too devoted to the Eye of the Moon plan to change now. However, a small part of me was changing- thanks to Naruto Uzumaki."

Nawaki smirked slightly at that. No one was immune to Naruto's charisma. He could make the devoted monks at the Fire Temple agree to change their religion if he put his mind to it.

"Naruto shared many of the beliefs that I had as a child. His desire to never abandon his comrades, and his desire to protect them all by becoming Hokage were both traits that I had had before Rin's death. However, Rin's death meant that I had failed, and that my desires were worthless. I truly believed that wishing to protect your comrades was pointless. They would die anyway, and you would feel even worse. However, part of me wondered if perhaps Naruto could do it. Subconsciously, I began to test him. I killed his comrades and taunted him, seeing if he would ever realise that his ambition was pointless. He never did."

Nawaki could see where this was going, but he still didn't understand where he fit into this. He waited patiently for Obito to finish.

"As I fought with Kakashi, he explained to me what my subconscious had been doing. He also showed me that not everyone was like me. I was unable to fill the hole in my heart left by the deaths of my loved ones. Kakashi explained to me that other people could. At first, I didn't believe him, but then we went back to the battlefield, and I saw that Naruto was as strong as ever. Despite everything that had been thrown at him, he was winning. My thoughts after this are a little bit complex, but in the end I was convinced to change sides. With the help of all the shinobi, but mainly Naruto and your parents, Kakashi, and I managed to defeat Madara by using our Kamui jutsu. It sent him into another dimension, defeating him for good. The Ten-tails was subdued, and his chakra was shared amongst a select few shinobi, who became the new type of jinchuriki."

Nawaki was stunned. Obito's voice hadn't changed throughout his story. It was as if he was reciting a list, not explaining a story. Nawaki also felt that he was leaving out a lot, although he did seem to be telling the truth for the most part.

"So… I get now why you did what you did, but I still don't understand why you're suddenly all interested in me. Why are the Uchiha suddenly so important to you? Didn't you help massacre them?"

Obito sighed and leant against the wall of the cave. Nonetheless, he did answer Nawaki's question.

"You see, ever since the times of the First Hokage, the Uchiha and the Senju have being fighting for control over the shinobi world. I don't mean complete control, but they always have been two of the biggest influences on this world. It has always been the Senju in control, and this was another part of Madara's philosophy. He didn't think that the Senju were strong enough to do what they had to. They bowed down to the other villages, and gave them Bijus to appease them. Hashirama was strong but naïve. He thought that the villages could coexist if he gave them all equal power. He believed in happiness, but at the same time he caused strife. Madara had a different philosophy. By using the Eye of the Moon plan and taking away free will from everyone bar Madara and I, we would ensure that no one suffered. They were two extremes, which is why the two clans could never coexist. The Uchiha were immune to the feelings of others which helped them achieve a higher goal, while the Senju tried to appease everyone in hope that everyone would follow their example. Over the years, these two clans have fought for their ideals, but neither could fully win over the other. Throughout these fights, the Senju have always been the ruling clan, the 'good guys' if you want to be blunt. However, none of the Senju were strong enough to stop the evil and suffering in the world. They were too weak, and so missing-nin began to thrive. When Itachi Uchiha slaughtered his clan-again putting his own feelings and the feelings of his clan aside for the greater good- I knew that something had to be done. The Uchiha were becoming extinct, and if we didn't try to gain control now, we might not have a chance to again."

Nawaki was trying his best to keep up, but he had been born eight years after the war. Growing up with a missing-nin as a mother had shown him things that most parents would shelter their children from, but at the same time he himself had been sheltered from a lot of things. He had only been in the Academy for six months, and he had realised that his knowledge of shinobi history wasn't very informed. The only source of information he had had was his mother, and he knew that she had kept-and was still keeping- some things from him. Nonetheless, he was able to gather the general idea from Obito's speech.

"However, Naruto managed to convince me that he could change the world. That instead of fighting, the Senju and the Uchiha could rule together. I believed him, and he has not let me down. He arranged an equal fight between himself and Sasuke to fight for the title of Hokage. Naruto won, but he convinced Sasuke to become second-in-command. The two of them work together in a way that was unheard of between the two clans. Naruto is the good side, the light. All the shinobi from all the nations trust and believe in him. Under his rule, feuds were resolved and shinobi began to cooperate and trust more. The fear was diminished greatly-at least it was for a good while, it's been growing slightly for these past twelve years. The point is that most of the shinobi were focused on either self-preservation or complete loyalty to their village. They did not trust easily because of the constant fear. Naruto eased that, and created peace amongst the lands simply by being himself."

Somehow, none of this seemed ridiculous. If it was anyone else, Nawaki would have called it impossible, but this was Naruto. If he could make people who swore to kill him change their minds, what chance did normal shinobi have?

Obito still wasn't finished, and Nawaki wondered if he had been planning this speech for a long time.

"However, charisma and optimism couldn't convince everyone. There will always be shinobi who are driven by greed alone. Shortly after the war ended, there was a small group of Kiri shinobi who planned to take advantage of the newfound trust between villages. They were in the middle of plotting a coup when the Hyuga spies found out. They reported back to Hinata, who decided to tell Sasuke."

This speech was taking a long time, but Nawaki didn't really mind. He had never heard of this coup before, and was curious to find out more.

"Sasuke is the dark side. He deals with the decisions that can only end badly. When he found out about the coup, he didn't let Naruto try and convince them to change. He went straight to Kiri and slaughtered every single member who was involved in the coup. It wasn't pretty, but it was necessary. Thankfully, it hadn't grown that big yet, and the whole thing was kept silent. Only the highest of shinobi from Konoha and Kiri know that it even happened. The families of the slaughtered shinobi were simply informed that they had been killed in the middle of a mission. Later, evidence was forged showing that the shinobi were traitors. As far as I know, that was the biggest and messiest problem that Sasuke had to deal with. But it shows you what he has to deal with on a daily basis. Naruto was worried that running the police station on top of that would be too much, but Sasuke insisted. Apparently he had wanted to be a policeman before the clan massacre."

Nawaki absorbed this information like a sponge. His head was starting to spin slightly, because it felt like all this information was important, but Obito still hadn't gotten to the point.

"Because both Naruto and Sasuke ruled together, the pain and suffering eased and although it didn't disappear completely the people kept their free will. It was the fairest way to balance it out. After I saw this, I was finally convinced that the world was in good hands. My only worry was the future. Naruto had two children, but Sasuke didn't show the slightest interest in anyone, man or this era of peace was going to last, there would need to be both a Senju descendant and an Uchiha descendant in charge. I was seriously debating impregnating a random hooker or implanting my sharingan into a random child when your mother came along. She was tired and running scared, fighting off ANBU day after day. I helped her with a few debts and gave her a few false identities, and in return she gave me information. The child she was carrying was an Uchiha."

Nawaki had never realised how desperate his mother must have been. If she had sought help from Obito Uchiha, he wondered what else she had done. Obito seemed to be reading his mind again, as Nawaki could see a small smirk on his lips. It was then that he realised that the mask wasn't covering Obito's mouth anymore. Perhaps his throat had gotten dry from all that talking and he had needed a drink. The normalcy of this made Nawaki smile slightly.

"Which brings us back to your question: Why do you matter so much to me? The answer is simple, Nawaki. You are destined to be a huge power in this world. I do not know how or when it will happen, but one day you shall rule Konoha alongside a Senju or Uzumaki. I will make sure that this will happen, so that the world will continue to know peace after Sasuke's life comes to an end. In order to make sure that you will be strong enough, I've saved your life and brought you here."

Nawaki wasn't too sure that he li ked where this was going. He tried to cut Obito off before he could continue.

"I get where you're coming from, and I'm really, really grateful that you saved my life, but I think the best way for me to… _face my destiny_ is if I go home and face the truth. Hisa's probably back with the sharingan, so I really need to clear things up before it all gets out of control. And if I want to get stronger I think that the best way is for Konoha to train me. Plus I really want to see Oki, and if you want there to be another generation of Uchiha after me then Konoha is definitely where I should be. So…"

Obito waited silently for Nawaki to finish his list of excuses. Once he had run out of reasons, Nawaki had no choice but to wait for Obito's reply. Obito still had that half-smirk on his face.

"I agree. As I have said before, it is up to you how you want to achieve greatness. I simply told you all this so you could understand my intentions. All I want to do is help you, so that you can keep the peace in the future."

Nawaki relaxed slightly thinking that Obito was finished and that he could go. Unfortunately, Obito wasn't done.

"However," he said "You aren't ready to leave just yet. Your body still needs time to adjust to both the Senju DNA and the Rinnegan."

"I can rest in Konoha." Nawaki argued weakly.

He was sure that Obito was staring sceptically at him.

"Do you really think that they will give you time to rest? To them, you have just confirmed that you are Sasuke Uchiha's son and you are also supposed to be dead. By the time you get to the hospital it will be too late. I am the only one who fully knows how to handle this mixture of bloodstreams, therefore it would be wise of you to stay here until I give the all-clear."

Nawaki opened his mouth to argue but Obito cut him off.

"You may be skilled in using the Sharingan, but handling that as well as the Rinnegan and Wood Style? If you go to Konoha before you learn control you could end up hurting your friends. You don't want that, do you?"

Nawaki sighed and flopped back on the blanket.

"No." he muttered "I don't want that."

Obito stared at him expectantly. He sighed.

"Fine. I'll stay for now."

He turned his face towards the stone wall, completely missing Obito's smirk.

!

Sasuke burst into the Hokage's office without invitation. Normally, Naruto would think it was an emergency, but Sasuke had been doing it so often these days that he hardly bothered looking up.

Sasuke walked over to the desk and placed his hands on the desk.

"Any news?" he asked/demanded "When will we be ready to move?"

Naruto continued sorting through the paperwork. To a stranger, Sasuke's voice would sound emotionless. But Naruto knew Sasuke, and he knew that Sasuke wasn't alright. Losing Nawaki to Obito had made him tenser, more agitated. Even though they still had no proof that Obito was planning anything, Naruto knew that Sasuke was scared. He showed his fear by working harder than ever, focusing his mind on one thing alone. It made Naruto happy that Sasuke was worried about Nawaki , even if he hadn't acknowledged him as his son yet. Of course, he was sad that they had to worry about Nawaki in the first place.

Naruto finally looked up to meet his friend's impatient gaze. Sasuke was glaring down at him with poorly concealed irritation.

"We'll be ready to move soon." Naruto said. "I'm debating whether or not to bring Nawaki's team, and I want to make a few last minute adjustments to the seal. One of the ANBU was caught a few weeks ago, but we passed it off as a fluke. We should get the coordinates soon."

Sasuke nodded, before turning around and sweeping out of the office. The door slammed behind him without a goodbye.

Once he was alone, Naruto's face lost its calm façade, and was replaced by worry. He was naturally optimistic, but there were so many things that could go wrong with this next mission. Even if it went right, Naruto knew that a lot of people would get hurt.

He sighed, remembering the good old days when being Hokage meant nothing more that beating up anyone strong enough to threaten the village. Now…

Now he needed a vacation.

He grinned slightly at that. He knew that he'd never get a real vacation, but there was always a bright spot if his days were extra hard.

Right on cue, Hinata entered the office. Naruto's smile became the most genuine it had been all day, and he wrapped his arms around his wife in a bear-hug.

He'd take Hinata over a lifetime of vacations.

**A/N Sorry if this chapter was boring. Obito talked a lot, but I needed to show people his motivation for helping Nawaki. Next chapter will be more interesting(I hope). **

**Anyway, about Obito's speech. It's basically the way I feel about the whole 'Uchiha vs Senju' thing and how I hope it's resolved. It will probably come up again, but I don't think it will take up the whole chapter.**

**Thanks again for all the reviews. I'll try my very best to update this story by next week.**


	46. Chapter 46

Five days had passed since their return to the village. Hisa hadn't seen Oki since then, and she understood why. Both of them were trying to move on and not think about Nawaki. Seeing Oki would make the memory hurt more. Neither of them had been called for a mission, so there was no real urgent need to see each other.

Hisa spent most of the time holed up inside the house. She went out for a while every day to practise controlling the Sharingan, but she trained alone. Somehow, half the village seemed to have heard about her sharingan, and she was getting sick people staring at her closed eye, as if she was going to open it and Amaterasu them at any second. She didn't even have the Mangekyo! Naruto had seen the looks, and had decided to pull her out of the Jonin Exams. She hadn't really minded.

On the fifth day of doing nothing, Hinata had suggested that she leave the house and wander around Konoha for a few hours. She had started to object, but the look in her mother's eyes convinced her that Hinata wasn't going to take no for an answer.

So she had wandered around town aimlessly for a bit, until she saw Obito and Toruko. They were sitting on a bench and talking, but Hisa didn't pay attention to their conversation. It was unusual to see Obito without both of his teammates, and she wondered where Kawa was. She remembered what Obito had told her about Kawa's new training area, and suddenly she knew what she wanted to do today.

!

It only took her twenty minutes to find him. The training ground was good, filled with heavy boulders and rubble. It was perfect for working on jutsu like the Inuzuka Clan's.

She watched quietly as he braced himself, Kiiromaru at his side. His nails had turned into full claws, and his canines had gotten sharper and longer. He tensed, before jumping into the air.

"Fang over fang!"

The air was filled with dust and the sound of drilling. When the dust showed no sign of clearing, Hisa opened her sharingan to see what was going on. Her chakra flow jerked slightly, but the impact of using the Sharingan had begun to lessen.

Once it was activated, she could clearly make out two forms grinding a boulder into dust. She was impressed. Although Kawa should have mastered the technique years ago, his current form was flawless and the boulder didn't stand a chance.

He finished the jutsu and skidded backwards, panting slightly. It took Kiiromaru a bit longer to finish, and she could see Kawa frown at the lack of synchronisation. He watched the boulder expectantly. There were two perfect spirals drilled into it, and it wobbled for a few seconds. Hisa thought that it would collapse, but in the end it steadied itself.

Kawa cursed and punched it hard. The boulder shattered and more dust blew into the air. Hisa winced slightly; punching a boulder without any gloves had to hurt.

She watched quietly as Kawa straightened up, his back to her. He didn't do anything for a minute, and Hisa wondered if he was still angry. But when he spoke, there was only light teasing in his voice.

"Are you going to lurk around and stalk me all day, or are you going to come over here and talk to me Princess?"

She rolled her eyes. 'Princess' was getting old, she wished that he would drop the nickname, or give her a new one.

"Seriously," she called as she stepped forward "What is your problem with the name 'Hisa'? It's just four letters!"

He grinned at her, unable to see her clearly through the dusty air.

"Nicknames are better." he smirked "They piss you off, which makes me laugh. I don't see the problem."

She would have replied, but she had finally gotten close enough for him to see her new eye. His smirk slid slightly when he saw her fully, and his stared at her eye in confusion. Hisa looked at him, silently begging him not to ask. That was the reason that she came to him. Being around him was easy, and she needed that right now.

He seemed to understand, and ignored the sharingan. His smirk came back full-blown.

"So why did you come out here? Are you hoping to learn some of my superior training methods?"

She snorted.

"Keep guessing. If I wanted to know how to do one of the easiest Inuzuka jutsu, I would have asked a genin."

His eyes saddened slightly, and Hisa cursed herself. She knew that Kawa's lack of talent with Kiiromaru was a sensitive subject for him.

"I was shit, wasn't I?" he said grimly, all laughter gone from his tone.

She shook her head quickly.

"Your technique was fine; it's not your fault that the boulder didn't break. Besides, you did break the boulder in the end, just not with an Inuzuka jutsu."

That seemed to satisfy him, and the teasing grin was back on his face.

"So why are you here? Finally decided that I was irresistible and came to confess your undying love for me?"

She grinned and got into a fighting stance.

"Keep dreaming Inuzuka, I came to train."

He mirrored her stance, gesturing for Kiiromaru to stay out of the way.

"Aw. You've crushed my heart. Really. How will I ever cope with your rejection?"

She punched him in the gut and sent him crashing into a boulder. Smirking triumphantly, she watched as he dragged himself out.

"I think I'm over it." he muttered, before punching the ground and sending tremors through it.

Hisa threw herself into the fight, forgetting all of the trauma about Nawaki and focusing on his gift to her. The sharingan was especially useful when Kawa used his smoke bombs. It took her ten minutes to pin him to the ground with kunai. She could have left then, but she was enjoying the fight and it wasn't like she had anywhere else to be. So she stayed and trained some more.

By the time she got home a few hours later, she felt better than she had in days.

!

Nawaki wasn't sure how long he had spent in Obito's underground home. He occasionally saw bits of daylight, but he could never tell when a day ended and the night began. Obito's training was intense, and Nawaki took every opportunity he could to take a nap. This meant that he couldn't judge the time by his sleeping patterns either. If he was to guess, he'd say that he spent five to six days here.

He could finally use the Rinnegan for thirty seconds without needing to sit down. Nawaki had no seals to hold the Paths, which meant that he could use all six. The problem with that was that they were all so complicated. He had attempted one Almighty Push and instead summoned the King of Hell. He had been so terrified that the King had assumed that he was the target and tried to devour his soul. Thankfully, Obito had stopped it, but they had agreed to work on chakra control and basic jutsu before trying the Rinnegan again.

The Wood Style was just as hard. Nawaki was extremely reluctant to use it, as he felt like he had stolen it. It belonged to the First Hokage, and unlike Nawaki's rinnegan he hadn't been given permission to use it. Only when Obito had shown him the damage it could do did he agree to learn how to use it. He didn't want it to suddenly flare up and cover Konoha in trees.

But learning to control it was much harder than he thought. The first time he had tried, his whole right arm had turned to wood. Nawaki had been scared that he would be permanently stuck like that, but once again Obito had saved him. Nawaki was reluctant to admit it, but staying and training with Obito had been the right thing to do. He was pretty sure that without Obito's help, he would either be a tree, or lying in the stomach of Hell. Neither option sounded appealing to him.

Obito was delighted by the strength of his rinnegan, especially after being informed that Hisa could only use four of the Paths. But he had seemed slightly disappointed at the weakness of Nawaki's Wood Style. Unlike Obito, Nawaki had only needed to transplant minor parts of his body with a clone of Hashirama. This made his Wood Style a lot weaker and although Nawaki didn't mind, Obito seemed slightly annoyed by that.

Currently, Nawaki was having a small break. Obito had left him alone for a while, and Nawaki was taking the time to think about everything that had happened. As he lay on the rocky ledge, he thought about the past few days.

If he was being honest, he still couldn't believe everything that had happened. He had been so careful in Konoha to keep his sharingan a secret from his team, but that had all been blown out of the water in a few days. All it had taken was one sword swipe, and the next time he woke up he had a Rinnegan and could use Wood Style.

He could also empathise with how Hisa felt about the Rinnegan. You would think that being as overpowered as he was would be great, but it wasn't. For one thing, he couldn't control them at all, which meant that he could barely use them. For another, the Rinnegan sucked up far too much of his chakra, and although the Wood Style boosted it, it felt alien to him.

Nawaki had had a small group of fangirls back in Konoha, which had caused both his mother and his teammates lots of amusement. He had tried to be civil to them and treated them normally; even the one that fainted every time he said hello. He hadn't really cared about any of them, since he had only been focused on maintaining a friendship with Oki, but they had helped him be confident in his body.

Now it felt like he had gotten plastic surgery. The Sharingan was natural, in his blood, so he had never felt uncomfortable using it. The past experience with the Sharingan also helped him adjust to the Rinnegan. It still took a lot of energy, but he was starting to adapt to it.

The Senju DNA was a whole other story. Every time he used his chakra, he could feel the Wood Style flowing within it. To him, it felt wrong. It was unnatural and uncomfortable. He knew that it had saved his life, and he knew that he couldn't live without it, but he still couldn't bring himself to like it.

He turned his head slightly when he heard the sound of footsteps. Obito must be back from… wherever; it wasn't like he was going to tell Nawaki. One thing that annoyed Nawaki about Obito was that you never knew where you stood with him. Even after his big long speech, Nawaki still got the feeling that Obito was hiding a lot from him.

He suddenly wondered how Konoha had never found this place. If it contained the clone of Hashirama Senju, then shouldn't it have been guarded?

Obito entered the cave, and Nawaki voiced his thoughts.

"I was just wondering, how did you manage to keep this place a secret?"

Obito put his gunbai fan down, and turned to face Nawaki. After the second day, Obito had stopped using a mask to hide his face. Nawaki supposed that it was some kind of symbol of trust.

"It was quite simple actually. I faked a cave-in when they came to explore. It was a bunch of Kumo ANBU, but they weren't very good. All it took was some of the outer caves crumbling and they were convinced that the whole place had been buried."

Nawaki sat up then and swung his legs off the ledge. Keeping his right eye closed, he placed both feet on the ground and stood up. Once he was standing steadily, he opened his eye.

The effect was instantaneous. His chakra kicked into overdrive, pumping harder and harder to keep the Rinnegan going. Nawaki grit his teeth, but kept his eye open. Obito watched silently, but there was an approving smile on his mouth.

Nawaki kept his eye open for a full minute before letting it close and slumping back onto the ledge. He took a few seconds to catch his breath, before raising his head to look at Obito. Obito was grinning proudly.

"I see that your stamina has improved. Well done."

Nawaki grinned slightly. Here in the cave, Obito was the only person he had contact with. This meant that if he wanted criticism or praise, Obito was the only one who would give him any. Nawaki found himself wanting to please Obito, to make him proud. That scared him a bit.

Obito moved over to sit down on another ledge. Nawaki frowned. Normally when Obito returned they would jump straight back into training. Something strange was going on.

"I have a pleasant surprise for you." Obito announced. "I've managed to make contact with your mother."

Nawaki's heart leapt. Sakura was coming here? He hadn't realised until now how much he had missed her. With everything that had happened to him, he needed someone who he knew would always be there for him. He needed his mother.

"Where is she? Is she coming here? When will I see her?"

He was standing know, staring beseechingly at Obito. There was a glint in Obito's eye that he didn't like, but he would worry about that later.

"Calm yourself child. She's travelling here as quickly as she can. She heard about what happened and she wants to say that she loves you and isn't mad about you revealing your sharingan."

Nawaki sat back down again. His mother was coming. He would be safe. Somehow, it didn't matter anymore if Obito was manipulating him. As long as was with his mother, she would protect him.

He shook his head slightly, because it wasn't good to think like that. He knew that his mother couldn't protect him from everything, but after all that had happened, the thought of seeing her gave him hope. Maybe this could all work out in the end.

Obito stood up and gestured towards the door.

"Come. Let's continue your training."

Nawaki sighed slightly, but obeyed.

!

Two days after her training session with Kawa, Hisa decided to visit the memorial stone. Nawaki's name had been carved onto it yesterday, and Oki had already been down.

She wasn't surprised to find Kakashi waiting there. Even after finding out that Obito was alive, he still visited the stone a lot. She assumed that it was for Rin and Minato, but maybe he had other reasons. You never knew with Kakashi.

They stood there in silence for a while, staring down at the stone. Hisa thought that Kakashi had fallen asleep, until he made a little snorting noise. His body shook slightly, and Hisa stared at him in wide eyes. _Oh Kami, please don't let him be crying. _She really couldn't handle that.

To her surprise, she realised that he was chuckling slightly, not crying. She stared at him in confusion, and he turned to stare at her. Although he kept chuckling, his eyes were sad.

"It's funny, isn't it?" he said casually. "How Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura took after the Sannin? I thought that it was a onetime thing, that history would never repeat itself so closely. Turns out I was wrong." He chuckled again. "You're the next generation me. One teammate dead on a mission, the other heartbroken but trying to stay strong. Heck, you even have the transplanted sharingan"

She didn't know what to say. She had never seen Kakashi be so personal. He was always detached when he talked to them. Kind and funny, but not open. Seeing him like this was strange, especially since his words were partly true.

"Trust me on this; don't waste your life blaming yourself. It happened, and it wasn't your fault. _You _didn't cut his lungs open. Who knows? Maybe he's exactly like Obito, out there somewhere with Senju DNA pumping through his body."

Hisa smiled slightly. If only.

"I wish that was true." she murmured. "I'd like him to be alive, but there's no way he can be. No one was out there to save him. He's dead."

Kakashi shrugged slightly.

"In that case, treasure his memory, but move on. Help your teammates too. I've seen Oki around town, but Konohamaru has disappeared off the radar, I'm starting to worry about that kid."

"I'm touched Kakashi. Really."

They turned to see Konohamaru lazily sitting on a tree branch. His eyes were dull and he had a blank expression on his face.

"Where've you been?" Hisa asked.

"You look like shit." Kakahsi added helpfully.

Konohamaru shrugged slightly and dropped off the branch onto the ground. He walked over slowly to them and stared down at the memorial stone.

"I've been having sex with Hanabi." he muttered. "I'd forgotten how good she was."

Hisa grimaced, while Kakashi looked vaguely intrigued.

"Sensei, I did _not _need to hear that." she said.

He shrugged again, his eyes on the stone.

"I've been your sensei for years now, and yet you guys barely know me." he said "I know you, Hisa, pretty well thanks to Naruto, but Nawaki… he barely knew anything about me. I'm not going to let that be the case with you and Oki."

Kakashi put his hand on Konohamaru's shoulder.

"A word of advice." he said gently. "Start with things like your favourite colour or your favourite book, not your sex life."

Konohamaru chuckled, and the sombre mood was broken.

"I heard what you said earlier," he said "About Hisa being the new you. If that makes me the new Yellow Flash, then I'm fine with that."

Kakashi's mask crinkled into a smile.

"Good to know." he said. "To be honest, I've no idea what I was talking about. It just popped into my head how similar the two situations are."

Hisa wasn't paying that much attention. Her mind was filled with images of her sticking a Chidori through Oki, while Nawaki watched. Thankfully, she knew it would never happen. She didn't know how to do a Chidori, and she doubted that she would ever have to kill Oki.

She tuned back into the conversation just as Konohamaru explained why he was here.

"Naruto told me to get both of you. Apparently you're going on a mission, along with him, Oki and Sasuke."

Hisa frowned. Why would Naruto want her and Oki on a mission with him and Sasuke? If the mission was dangerous enough for the Hokage and his Second, not to mention Kakashi, then why the hell was he bringing two Chunin along?

When she asked Konohamaru, he just shrugged.

"Don't ask me. Naruto just told me to get you two, and that I would be filling in as Hokage while he was gone. It seems pretty important, so you best hurry."

She took off as soon as he finished, Kakashi following behind her at a much more leisurely pace. As they made their way to the Hokage building, Hisa couldn't shake the feeling that this mission somehow concerned Nawaki. She suddenly thought of the Edo Tensei jutsu, and wondered if someone had done it on Nawaki. If she was forced to fight him, she didn't know if she could handle that.

**A/N Once again, sorry for the wait in updating. The next few chapters will be heavy, and I want to get them right. That's the main reason why it's taking so long.**

**A quick note for Dave Brooks, who left an anonymous review saying that he had drawn some fanart for this story. Thank you so much! It's an honour to think that people like this story enough to do that. If you want to PM me with a link to the picture, I'd love to see it.**

**Once again, thanks for the reviews and I'll try and update by next week.**


	47. Chapter 47

Two days and five hours. That was how long Nawaki had been waiting for his mother. It wasn't like he was obsessively counting-Obito's training required his full focus, so he couldn't count the seconds even if he wanted to- he had just figured out a way to judge the time. Obito still didn't let him train in daylight, which seemed strange to Nawaki. They trained in underground caverns most of the time, and occasionally they would go up to the surface. But whenever they trained outside it was always night-time.

Two days ago, they had been training outside. Nawaki had gotten distracted for a few seconds when he had spotted the Naruto star, and the Wood jutsu he had been practising had whipped around and cut his leg. The wound was deep, and Obito decided to let him rest for a few hours until it healed.

As he waited for the Senju DNA to do its work, Nawaki had amused himself by watching the candle burn. Out of sheer boredom, he had started to count how long it took to burn out. To his surprise, it took exactly two hours.

This new discovery had excited Nawaki. He finally had a way to tell the time! From then on, he made careful note every time the candle was replaced with a fresh one. It wasn't a completely accurate method, as there was always the chance that the candle had been replaced twice when he was at a long training session, but it gave him a rough idea. Unfortunately, it also made him even more impatient.

He was resting from yet another brutal training session. Obito had decided to progress the training and he had start sparring with Nawaki. Naturally, Nawaki had lost. Badly. His arms were covered in bruises, as were his shins. He had also twisted his ankle and exhausted his chakra reserves on the Rinnegan. The good news was that every training session was helping him gain more control, and that made every bruise worth it.

He heard a noise from the corridor outside his cave/bedroom. To his surprise, Obito walked in. Obito usually left him alone after training, calling him only to eat or to start a new session. Nawaki's first thought was that Konoha had found them. He knew it was irrational, but even before coming here he had been slightly paranoid about everything.

His second thought was that Obito had news about his mother. He jumped off the ledge that he had been using as a bed, ignoring the slight wave of fatigue that hit him. He could see Obito's eyes narrow, calculating every reaction he made. Nawaki wasn't completely sure if he was just being overly cautious, but there was something about Obito that Nawaki didn't trust.

"What's going on? Is she here yet?" he forced himself to tone down his excitement. Obito had enough ammunition to use against him as it was.

He knew Obito had caught on to his anticipation. Much like he had with Kakashi, Nawaki had started reading Obito's eyes to figure out his thoughts. Whenever Nawaki displayed vulnerability or got overemotional about something, Obito's eyes would narrow slightly in what Nawaki could only describe as amusement. It wasn't the jovial kind of amusement, it was downright unpleasant and, like most things about Obito, it scared him.

Nawaki didn't know why things like this were bothering him so much. Being confined with a man he had grown up fearing had not helped him feel secure at all. Every moment not spent training felt like he was about to be ambushed by missing-nin. Nawaki _needed _his mother, he needed _anyone. _He would even settle for Sasuke right now, if it would make him feel slightly less wary. Obito had told him that he wouldn't harm Nawaki, so why was his instinct screaming at him to run?

Obito smiled down at him and the curiosity won over his desire to flee. He met Obito's gaze expectantly. This seemed to satisfy Obito enough to announce why he was here.

"She has arrived." he said.

Nawaki's heart leapt but he kept his face expressionless. Obito paused for a second to gauge his reaction, then continued.

"She's not at the cave yet, but she's in the area. If you wish to, you can meet her and guide her here. Follow the hole south until you reach the clearing with the beehive. She'll be there."

Nawaki nodded quickly. Getting out of the cave and seeing his mother? It was a no-brainer. He took off out of the room, running along the winding corridors till he reached the small hole that he had been using to get in and out for training. There was no need to wait for Obito. If he came, he'd use his Mangekyo to teleport. Nawaki hoped that he wouldn't come.

When he had climbed outside and stood in the daylight, suspicion settled in. Obito was nowhere to be seen. Why would he let Nawaki go on his own? Something about this didn't feel right. Maybe it was the sudden exposure to daylight, or maybe it was the slightly guilty tone he had detected in Obito's voice.

Nawaki shook it off. His paranoia was getting worse and worse. But it didn't matter, because soon he would be free of Obito, free to return to Konoha and get the truth out.

He took off towards the clearing as fast as he could.

!

Hisa was starting to get annoyed. They had been on this mission for two days and Naruto still hadn't explained what it was about. All he had said was that he, Kakashi and Sasuke were going to track down a missing-nin, and that they needed Oki and Hisa nearby as backup. None of this sat right with Hisa. The only reason she and Oki would be on a mission with three Kage level shinobi was if it was a mission that required there unique abilities or knowledge. Simply being there for 'backup' didn't make sense.

After the first day of travelling was over, Hisa had expected Naruto to explain the mission some more. Instead, he had simply ordered them to set up tents and get some rest. Their second day was almost over, and he had barely said anything. She would have asked, but when she had caught up with him as they jumped he had looked too sad for her to say anything. She wondered what was wrong, and had considered asking but by this time Sasuke had joined her other side and was sending her a completely unnecessary death-glare. She got the message: _Don't ask about it._

This left her with nothing to do but brainstorm with Oki. They held back a little so that they could talk in privacy. The first thing they agreed on was that this mission concerned Nawaki. Hisa suggested that he might be alive, but Oki pointed out that Naruto had promised to tell them if they found out he was alive. Stumped, she had thought in silence until Oki suggested that it might have something to do with the former Team 7. Maybe they had gotten another lead on Sakura, or maybe someone was trying to restart the Akatsuki. The last one was unlikely, but they barely had any information, which meant that there were tons of possibilities. They spent the rest of the day bouncing theories off each other, but in the end they were no closer to figuring Naruto's motives out than they were hours ago.

Suddenly, they came to a stop. Naruto had signalled them, and was crouched on a low branch with Sasuke at his side. They crowded around him as he explained his sudden stop.

"We're almost here. I can sense her up ahead. Oki, Hisa, you two stay back here. I'll flare my chakra three times if we need you. Sasuke, Kakashi, you know the plan. Let's go."

They disappeared before Hisa had time to open her mouth and ask "What the hell is this super mysterious 'plan' that you refuse to talk about?"

Sighing, she sat down on the tree branch and looked over at Oki.

"It's definitely Sakura." she said, "Naruto said 'her', and why else would he be so worried about taking a missing-nin down?"

Oki sighed and lay back on the branch.

"I can't believe we're missing this." she grumbled "The epic showdown of the old Team 7, and we can't even get near enough to watch."

Inspiration struck. Hisa jumped to her feet and grinned down at Oki.

"Can't we?" she said before opening her sharingan.

Oki frowned at her, confused for a few seconds. Then she got it.

"You mean the Sharingan can see then from here?" she asked, sitting up suddenly.

"I think so. I've been practising and I can hold it for a while. If I get high enough in a tree, I should be able to see them."

Oki grinned, startling Hisa. She hadn't seen Oki this excited since before Nawaki's death.

"What are you waiting for? Climb a tree! You'll have to narrate the action for me, so don't leave anything out."

Hisa kicked off the branch and jumped onto a higher one. It held steady, but the next one was higher and thinner. It creaked alarmingly under her weight, so she pushed chakra into her feet and jumped onto the trunk. She reached the top of the tree and searched around for a minute until she found a comfortable branch that she could sit on without chakra.

Once she was settled and had stopped the chakra flow to her feet, she opened her sharingan. The world immediately became brighter, and her right eye began to water. So many things were being processed by her eye at once, chakra trails, colours, different angles and focus, it was overwhelming. She had found that the best way to deal with it was to zero in on one aspect. This time, she looked over at the clearing closest to her, and let her eye zoom in on what was happening. Once she had a clear view, she began to narrate to Oki.

"I can see a few figures. One is definitely Naruto-he's wearing bright orange. That means that two others are Sasuke and Kakashi. There's one left… It's Sakura! You were right, Team 7 are having a showdown. Sakura seems to be yelling at them, Naruto looks really sad. Wait a second…"

When she didn't say anything for a full minute, Oki yelled up at her.

"What's going on? What's happening? Are they fighting yet?"

Still no reply.

"Hisa? What's wrong? Did a bird fly into your mouth or something? Wait, don't answer that, it's stupid. But seriously, what's happening up there?"

"... There's someone else. They're hiding in the trees, so I can barely see them. I think it's a boy."

"Do we know him? Does he look familiar?"

"…Yes."

"Okay… who is he?"

"It's… it's Nawaki."

!

Nawaki raced into the clearing and looked around wildly. Was she here? Was Obito telling the truth?

He was suddenly smothered into a crushing hug.

"Nawaki! You're alive! I was so worried when Obito told me what had happened, how are you feeling? Is the Rinnegan draining your chakra? What happened to your other sharingan?"

Sakura seemed to realise that Nawaki was suffocating. She released him, but kept a firm grip on his shoulders. Nawaki smiled up at her. He felt a tear in his left eye, but blinked it away quickly. His mother had no such reservations; tears were openly trickling down her cheeks.

"I'm ok Mom. I mean, my right eye looks really weird, and the Senju DNA feels all wrong, but I'm alive. I'm really happy right now."

She pulled him in for another crushing hug and held him tight against her chest. Nawaki didn't mind at all, he hugged back as hard as he could. No words were needed, just the physical reassurance that she was here and that she wasn't going anywhere.

Eventually, she pulled back and sighed happily. Neither of them could keep a grin off of their faces.

"So, what do you want to do now? Do you want to sit here and talk, or do you want to go to the hideout?"

Sakura opened her mouth to answer, but suddenly she froze. Her face grew wary, and her eyes became angry and fearful. Her hands clenched into fists and she stood up straighter. Nawaki looked around the area, wondering why she was so tense.

When she spoke, it was calm and measured.

"Nawaki, I need you to run and hide. Don't come back no matter what happens. I'll find you when this is over."

He was completely confused. What was going on? He couldn't sense anything. Wait, there was something there…

"Nawaki! Now!"

Startled, he took off. It had been a long time since the two of them had travelled together, but he could still remember how his mother acted when they were attacked. She never was afraid and she never snapped at him. Had she simply changed, or was there something else going on? Why didn't she want him to see this?

His curiosity would kill him one of these days, but since it didn't look like he would get any answers by running away, he found a tree nearby where he could hide but still see Sakura. He quickly lowered his chakra pattern, hopefully making it harder for anyone to notice him.

He waited for a full minute without hearing or seeing anything strange. Sakura was still standing in the clearing, fists clenched. A slow breeze whistled through the trees, and he could hear a faint birdcall in the distance. Other than that, everything was silent. He wondered if his mother could hear his heart beating. It certainly felt loud to him.

Sakura shifted, moving her right foot behind her and crouching slightly. Her eyes were trained on the clump of bushes to her right. Nawaki followed her, but couldn't see anything. He activated his sharingan, and almost jumped out of the tree.

Sasuke walked forward until he was fully visible. His eyes never left Sakura, and Nawaki breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't been detected.

Now why the hell was Sasuke here?

Sakura seemed to be thinking the same thing. Her eyes were narrowed at Sasuke, glaring intensely at him.

"Well, this is an unpleasant surprise. How did you find me?"

From where he was hiding, Nawaki had full view of both of them. Sakura was on his left, Sasuke on his right. They were staring at each other, waiting for one of them to break. From Nawaki's experience, they would be waiting a long time.

To his surprise, Sasuke answered.

"A Kumo-nin told the Raikage that you were headed this way. He said that he owed you for saving his life but he had to report it."

Sakura closed her eyes and Nawaki heard her sigh.

"Next time I'll just let him die in a fire, the bastard. Which reminds me," she opened her eyes and glared at Sasuke. "Why can't you just go and die in a fire? Right now would be preferable."

Nawaki had never seen this side to Sakura. She had always been loving, willing to heal anyone they encountered who was in trouble. But now Nawaki could almost feel the hatred rolling off her in waves. Her stare was colder than Sasuke's, which Nawaki hadn't known was possible.

"Sakura," Sasuke's voice was as cold as Sakura's stare, "I'm here to arrest you for your defection."

She let out a mocking laugh. It was starting to scare Nawaki, how different she was around Sasuke. It was like watching a stranger, or someone with schizophrenia. Come to think of it, his mother had mentioned someone called Inner Sakura…

He drew his attention back to the field just in time to here Sakura's reply.

"How are you going to do that Sasuke-kun? Going to use Ameterasu on me? Are you going to _kill _me Sasuke? Because we both know that there's a good chance you'll die if you try."

His face remained expressionless, but he made a small gesture with his hand. Nawaki's eye widened further as Kakashi emerged from the trees.

Sakura's eyes narrowed as she glared at the masked man.

"Kakashi." she sneered "Should have known you'd rat me out. Sasuke was always your favourite."

Kakashi didn't say anything, but his expression was solemn. Sasuke stepped in front of him, drawing Sakura's focus onto him

"He didn't rat you out. I figured it out years ago, and I told Naruto. We decided to wait until we had the chance to talk to you and then-"

"It doesn't matter anyway." Sakura interrupted. "Nawaki's dead. There's no point talking about it. So are you going to fight me or not?"

Nawaki jumped slightly as another familiar voice spoke from the bushes.

"Nawaki's not dead, Sakura." Naruto said as he moved to stand next to Kakashi. "We both know that. Or hasn't Obito told you yet?"

"N-Naruto." Sakura whispered.

For the first time since Nawaki had hidden, Sakura looked shaken. She took two steps back and clenched her fists tighter. The colour drained out of her face, and she stared at Naruto with a mixture of shock and sadness. Naruto looked equally grim.

"Why are you here Naruto?" she asked, her voice clearly trembling. "You're not supposed to come and find me. I don't want to hurt you."

He stared up at her beseechingly.

"I don't want to hurt you either Sakura-chan, but you need to come back to Konoha. We all need you to, before it's too late."

Her eyes hardened at the mention of her hometown. She straightened up and glared at him.

"I'm never going back." she snapped "You know more than anyone why I can't. Heck, you probably know more than I doabout it. Please, just let me go."

Naruto was getting visibly more upset as the conversation wore on. He was shifting from foot to foot now.

"Sakura, I'm the Hokage now. I have to bring you back, but that doesn't mean we have to fight. I _know _that you're strong enough to come back. I believe in you!"

For a second Nawaki thought that she would agree, but her face twisted into an ugly sneer and she threw back her head and laughed.

"Oh please Naruto, don't try and tell me I can do it. I'm not amazingly forgiving like you, and I'm not as brave as you either. There's no way I'm coming back unless you drag my dead body. So why don't you take a shot?"

Naruto looked so crushed that Nawaki wanted to give him a hug. Naruto moved forward and Nawaki noticed Sakura tense in anticipation. It looked like they were going to fight.

Sasuke stuck out his arm, blocking Naruto from going any further. Naruto glared at him, but Sasuke didn't even look. Sighing, Naruto moved back to stand next to Kakashi. Sakura watched the entire exchange with narrowed eyes.

"So you're not even going to fight me? I'd heard the rumour that Sasuke was taking care of your dirty work, but I never thought I'd see the day when you became a coward Naruto."

Naruto flinched but didn't make any other movement towards Sakura.

"Sasuke asked me if I would let him fight you one-on-one. Kakashi and I aren't here to fight you unless things get out of hand. Trust me, if it wasn't for Sasuke the two of us would be fighting by now."

A hint of a smile flickered on Sakura's mouth as she gazed at Naruto. Once again, Sasuke stepped forward to block her vision. Her mouth went back to a hardened line and she glared at him with pure hatred.

"Well Sasuke-kun? What are you waiting for? Let's fight."


	48. Chapter 48

Sasuke's Susanoo appeared around him, making Nawaki jump slightly. The thing was terrifying, a giant ribcage covered in purple flames, with an arm sticking out of its right side. At the end of the arm were black flames shaped like a sword that radiated their own evil aura. How was anyone supposed to defeat that thing?

To his surprise, Sakura began to laugh.

"You're fighting me without a fully developed Susanoo? Oh, you _definitely_ have a death wish Sasuke."

Her right hand became coated in chakra. It wasn't the healing chakra or the ordinary chakra that Nawaki had seen before. It was darker and had red streaks going through it. He noticed that a diamond tattoo had appeared on his mother's forehead. He knew what it was and what it could do, but he didn't think it could break through the Susanoo. She hadn't released the diamond seal yet, which meant the chakra in her hand was from another source. Nawaki couldn't figure it out.

If it wasn't for his sharingan, Nawaki wouldn't have seen her move at all. One second she was standing across the field, the next second, her fist was smashing into the ribs of the Susanoo. Sasuke let out a yell and clutched his right eye. Nawaki realised with a shock that two of the ribs were cracked. What had Sakura done? An ordinary punch couldn't have broken it, no matter how much chakra was pushed into it. Perhaps the chakra from the diamond seal could, but she still hadn't released it. It was all very confusing. The other thing that puzzled Nawaki was that Sasuke seemed to have expected Sakura to break through. He couldn't see her face anymore, so he didn't know what reaction she had.

He glanced over at Kakashi and Naruto. Naruto was staring at Sasuke with concern, while Kakashi was staring shrewdly at Sakura. He hadn't opened his sharingan yet, which was good for Nawaki. If he did, he would probably spot Nawaki instantly.

Nawaki needed to fix this, so he made a quick hand-seal and whispered "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Three shadow clones poofed into existence. Naruto frowned slightly and tilted his head towards the sound. Nawaki held his breath until Naruto's attention was drawn back to the fight.

Quickly, he put a Henge on each shadow clone that so that they looked like ants. Then he ordered them to spread out around the edge of the clearing, but never to get close enough for anyone to see them. Hopefully, if someone noticed his chakra signature, the four different sources would confuse them.

With this done, he turned his attention back to the fight. Sakura wasn't letting up. She punched the Susanoo over and over again, never giving Sasuke the chance to counterattack. When she finally jumped back to catch her breath, Nawaki counted five cracked ribs in the Susanoo. A tiny trickle of blood leaked from Sasuke's right eye, but if he was in pain he didn't show it.

He drew back his sword and aimed it at Sakura. It flashed forward and the ground exploded. For a terrifying second Nawaki thought that Sakura had been hit, but to his relief she jumped out of the dust, a frown visible on her face.

Sasuke struck again while she was in middair. This blow came closer to touching her, but she twisted while in the air and the black flames missed. Sasuke turned the sword and adjusted the swing, so that it was heading towards her again. She hit the ground hard to avoid it, her feet barely touching the ground for a second before she jumped again.

"Is that the best you can do Sasuke-kun?" she taunted.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn't respond.

Suddenly, the Susanoo vanished. Sakura's smirk got wider. She raised an eyebrow at Sasuke, whose face never changed. Nawaki wondered what was going through their heads right now. They had made love to each other at one point in their lives. Was that gone now? Did it mean anything?

Nawaki gasped slightly when two shuriken appeared in Sasuke's hands. He noticed now that there were two seals on his arms. A shuriken summoning seal? Nawaki had never seen one of those before.

The shuriken flew at Sakura, and they seemed to multiply in the air. Instead of two, there were now twenty. More shuriken appeared in Sasuke's hands, all aimed at Sakura. She didn't even bat an eyelid. She drew out a kunai and deflected the first ten. Then she jumped away and dodged the next twenty. Still the shuriken kept coming, a never-ending flow of deadly sharp weapons. Nawaki winced slightly when one got close enough to scratch Sakura, but she barely seemed to notice it.

How long could Sasuke keep the shuriken going? He certainly didn't look like he was going to slow down. The trees behind Sakura were filled with grooves and scratches. Nawaki knew that it could be a lot worse. At least Sasuke wasn't using Amaterasu.

Sasuke promptly shot a blast of black flames towards Sakura. It hit the trees behind her and set them on fire. Nawaki felt one of his shadow clones vanish and a small amount of chakra came flooding back into his body, along with the memories of that clone. If he concentrated hard enough, Nawaki could feel the burn of the black fire.

He realised suddenly that the sounds of the shuriken had stopped. Returning his eyes to the field, he watched as Sasuke drew a chokuto from his back. A current of electricity ran up and down the sword, sounding like a much quieter version of the Chidori. Sasuke gripped it firmly in his right hand, keeping his left free. His sharingan was back to its original state, eyes still trained on Sakura.

Sakura held her kunai firmly. The air rippled around it and for a second Nawaki thought she was doing a genjutsu. Then he realised that it was chakra in the air that was causing the ripples. The same dark chakra from earlier was running up and down Sakura's kunai.

She charged Sasuke and he met her in the middle. Their weapons clashed and real sparks flew. One fell onto Sakura's cheek but once again she barely seemed to feel it. The way they fought was different to how Nawaki sparred. Instead of trying to overpower each other by forcing their sword down, their swords barely touched before they tried to find a different opening. It was all about the speed, and they moved so fast that Nawaki's sharingan could barely keep up.

Their swords clashed and clashed again until Nawaki started to feel dizzy. Suddenly, Sasuke swung downwards. Sakura's kunai was by her right side, too far away to block in time. A small part of Nawaki hoped that Sasuke wouldn't go through with it, but to his horror the sword kept coming down, aimed directly for Sakura's head.

Sakura reached up and caught the sword with one hand. Her fingers started smoking, and the sword cut into her palm. She simply laughed, and swung her kunai at Sasuke. He tried to tug the sword away, but she kept a firm grip on it. He was forced to release it and jump backwards. The kunai grazed his stomach, drawing a small amount of blood. If he had been a second slower, the kunai would have gutted him.

It was then that Nawaki realised it. Sasuke wasn't trying to knock Sakura out to bring her back, and Sakura wasn't planning on letting Sasuke leave this fight alive. This was a fight to the death.

!

"What's happening now?"

Hisa squinted slightly. The tiny figures had become blurs, moving too quickly for her to see.

"I think they're having a kenjutsu fight. It's getting harder to see them. Naruto and Kakashi aren't moving and for some reason I can see three of Nawaki's chakra signatures."

There was silence from below.

"You know you could just come up here and see for yourself. If Sasuke uses his Susanoo again it shouldn't be too hard to see. It _is _a giant purple flaming skeleton."

Oki was next to her in seconds, squinting hard at the figures in the distance.

"I think I see Sakura and Naruto-the pink and orange makes them hard to miss. I can't see Sasuke or Nawaki though."

Oki suddenly turned and grinned at Hisa.

"Let's go and surprise Nawaki! C'mon, I don't want to be stuck here. Naruto and Kakashi aren't even fighting, they won't mind if we tag along."

Hisa was quiet for a minute.

"I don't think that we should."

Oki frowned at her friend.

"Why? I thought you said that there were more important things than orders and rules. Was that all talk?"

"It's not about the rules and orders." Hisa said "It's about trust. I trust Naruto, and if he wants us to stay here than that's what I'm going to do."

Oki was quiet after that. Hisa felt slightly guilty. She understood how much Oki wanted to see Nawaki, but something much bigger seemed to be going on.

She hoped that Nawaki wasn't part of it.

!

Nawaki watched in shock as Sakura smashed Sasuke's sword into the ground, destroying any remaining electricity. Sasuke snarled slightly. Sakura chuckled at that, her eyes narrowing maliciously at Sasuke.

Nawaki wondered why he wasn't using any of his extremely powerful attacks, like Susanoo. Perhaps it was because Sakura had already defeated it once, or perhaps it was because jutsu like that did a lot of damage to its surroundings. If Sasuke used a full Susanoo there was a good chance that Kakashi and Naruto, not to mention Nawaki himself, would get hurt.

With his sword currently unusable Sasuke seemed to be considering his options. Although Sasuke's face gave nothing away, Nawaki was getting a very bad feeling.

Suddenly, Sakura screamed and clutched her head. Nawaki gasped as Naruto snarled loudly. Sakura shook for a few seconds, before slowly straightening up. Sasuke watched the whole thing silently, not making any move towards here. Suddenly, Sakura began to talk.

"I'm going to kill you Sasuke." she murmured "I'm going to rip you apart and then I'll go after Kakashi and Naruto. Maybe I'll keep you alive so that you can watch me kill them. That would be funny, wouldn't it? Maybe I'll force _you _to kill them. I think I'd like that most of all. I'll torture them slowly, so that you can be merciful and kill them quickly. That will make me laugh so much. Doesn't that sound fun Sasuke-kun?"

Nawaki was shaking so hard the branch was trembling. He had never heard his mother speak like this. Her voice was different, emptier .It was horrifying. She spoke with so much hatred, it was like a monster. Nawaki remembered all the times she had told him that revenge and hatred wasn't the answer. Why was she acting like this now? Kakashi and Sasuke were both glaring angrily at her, while Naruto's eyes were shut tightly.

Sasuke threw two shuriken at Sakura, who batted them away with her kunai. He charged at Sakura moving so fast it was like a blur. She tensed, dropping her kunai on the ground and balling her hands into fists. She ran forward and punched the ground directly in front of Sasuke. He dodged the punch and jumped into the air. A shuriken flicked out of each of their hands and clashed in mid-air. Sasuke swung a kick at Sakura and she disappeared in a puff, leaving a log behind. She reappeared further away from Sasuke and he shot across the grass after her. He aimed his arm at her neck, but she grabbed it and squeezed. Nawaki heard a small crack before Sasuke punched her in the side of her head and freed himself.

He aimed another punch directly towards her head but at the last second he disappeared, reappearing behind her. He punched her in the jaw and she smashed into a tree. She was up again a second later, snarling loudly. Nawaki looked at where Sasuke had been standing, but he was no longer there. Nawaki watched as he appeared behind Sakura and kicked, sending her crashing onto the ground. She flipped over and stood up again. She didn't appear hurt at all, but she was shuddering violently.

Sasuke was suddenly right in front of her. She swung at him with both her fists but he caught her by the wrists and pulled her hands over her head. They glared at each other, Sasuke angry and Sakura defiant. Nawaki watched in horror as she spat straight onto his face.

He leant down and kissed her.

Kakashi looked shocked, but also sad, as if he had been expecting this. Naruto's eyes were still screwed shut, but he looked slightly panicky. As for Nawaki, he had never been more stunned in his life.

!

Oki frowned down at the small patch of green grass.

"I can't see. What's happened?"

Hisa wasn't quite sure her sharingan was working. Had she really seen that, or was she trapped in a Tsukuyomi?

"He kissed her."

"What?"

"They were in the middle of fighting and he just… kissed her."

"Oh."

"…"

"Holy shit."

"I know, right?"

!

Sasuke pulled back after a few seconds, still wearing the cold blank expression that was his norm. Sakura blinked heavily a few times, then she stared slowly up at him.

"Sasuke-kun?"

There was no malice or hatred in her words this time. There was only shock and confusion, and maybe something else that Nawaki didn't quite understand.

Before he had given Hisa his sharingan, he had always thought that the feud between his parents would end in one of two ways. The first way was if his mother never came back to the village. Sasuke would continue to pretend that he didn't know that Nawaki was his son, and Nawaki would continue to live alone in Konoha. He wasn't completely happy about this, but he could live with it.

The second option was that Sakura would come back to the village and set the record straight. She and Nawaki would live together until he was old enough to move out, and the two of them would ignore Sasuke as best they could. That option made him slightly happier, although it still didn't feel completely right.

But now, watching what had just happened, a third option that he had never dared to consider popped into Nawaki's head. What if they could be a family together? He and his mother could live with Sasuke, he would have someone other than Obito to help him train, they could visit Naruto and his family once a week… This felt completely right to Nawaki. A real family.

Suddenly, he was snapped out of his daydream. Naruto had yelled something that Nawaki hadn't quite heard. There was a strange sound coming from the field, it sounded like a flock of angry birds…

His eyes focused just in time to watch Sasuke's chidori pierce Sakura's heart.


	49. Chapter 49

Nawaki focused on the blood slowly dripping onto the grass. His eye made its way up Sakura's legs and abdomen, avoiding the chidori still sticking out of her back. Up her neck, and onto her face. Her expression was the same as it had been since Sasuke kissed her-confused and shocked. It was as if the pain hadn't registered.

Finally, Nawaki forced his eyes onto her forehead. If she had activated the seal in time, she could survive the destruction of her heart. He was slightly afraid of what he would find- what if she hadn't activated it in time? His brain refused to let him consider that possibility. He tried to take a deep breath, but he couldn't seem to breathe properly. He finally looked at the seal.

It wasn't activated.

The Creation Rebirth Seal wasn't activated, which meant that the damage done was fatal. Sasuke had taken her by surprise, and now it was too late. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was aware of his mother's words to him a long time ago: _Sasuke was always the fastest out of the three of us. Even as a genin his speed was incredible. _The rest of him was focused on denying what had just happened. His mother wasn't dying. Sasuke hadn't killed her. Naruto had once taken a chidori through the heart and survived, why couldn't Sakura?

_Naruto has the healing powers of a Bijuu, _the traitorous part of his mind reminded him.

Nawaki watched the complex seals on Sasuke's shoulders that he had never noticed before begin to glow. He watched as the dark chakra from earlier seeped out of Sakura's body and up Sasuke's arm, until at last, her eyes fluttered shut and she collapsed. Only then did Sasuke kill his chidori and remove his hand from her chest. Nawaki watched as Sakura's chakra seemed to merge with the seals and burn into Sasuke's body. Although Sasuke showed no pain Nawaki hoped that hurt.

Nawaki saw it all through his right Rinnegan eye, because his left eye was suddenly hurting him, and wouldn't open. He wanted to leave this branch and run over and scream at Sasuke, but he couldn't move. He was gripping the branch so hard it was cracking. His body was shuddering against his will, and his chakra pathways linked to the Rinnegan was pumping harder than ever.

It was then that Nawaki finally noticed the coldly furious look on Sasuke's face. Nawaki had no idea who Sasuke was angry at, and he didn't care because _He killed Sakura! _

Nawaki opened his mouth to scream but suddenly his voice wouldn't work. What came out was barely a sound, a mixture of a choke, a gurgle and a gasp. His lungs wouldn't work properly either, and he was finding it harder and harder to breathe.

Sasuke picked up Sakura and slung her over his shoulder. He turned away from Nawaki and looked over at Naruto and Kakashi. Kakashi was looking up at the sky, his face unreadable. Naruto had tears in his eyes and his expression was one of pure pain.

"It's done." Sasuke said, his voice hard "Let's go."

Kakashi turned around, but Naruto hesitated, never taking his eyes off Sakura's unmoving body.

"What about the kid?" he asked.

Nawaki froze. Were they talking about him? Was he going to die too?

Sasuke shook his head angrily.

"There's no point." he snapped "No matter what we do he's going to hate us. He's seen me kill his mother; nothing we say will convince him to forgive me."

They were talking about him. Nawaki felt the sudden urge to flee. To get away and forget everything that had just happened, to find a safe place where he could break down without fear of anyone noticing. But his limbs remained frozen, no matter how hard he mentally screamed at them.

"How do you know he's watching us? The plan was for me, Hisa and Oki to find him and explain this to him. I know he's near because Obito's chakra helped Sakura's to confuse me, but that doesn't mean Nawaki's watching right now."

So Naruto couldn't sense him properly because of something Obito and Sakura did, and Hisa and Oki were in on this too. As he stared at the limp bloody body slung over Sasuke's shoulder, the sense of betrayal grew. Was everything so messed up that Obito was the only person he could trust?

Sasuke crushed that thought too.

"I can't fully explain it. I just know he's watching. When I looked at Sakura after I pierced her heart I knew then that he's here. Obito must have known that I was going to do this, so he sent Nawaki here."

Nawaki's whole world was crashing down. He was alone, and the only person he could trust was dying on the shoulder of the man she hated most.

"Sasuke that's ridiculous. How would you know that Obito sent him here?" Naruto asked, unknowingly voicing Nawaki's own thoughts.

Sasuke's voice was bitter when he replied.

"You can always count on Obito Uchiha to twist a situation to his advantage. If you were Obito and for whatever reason you wanted Nawaki to get power, what would be one of the quickest ways that you know?"

Naruto finally got it at the same time as Nawaki.

"The Mangekyo Sharingan." Naruto said softly. "The eyes you can only get by from the trauma of losing a friend or family. Of course, how did I miss this?"

"I missed it too up until a few minutes ago." Sasuke said. "Look, there's no point trying to go after Nawaki. He hates us for doing this, end of story. I don't know what will happen to him and right now I don't care. There will be time for dealing with him after we get back to Konoha."

Naruto sighed and shook his head regretfully, but turned around nonetheless. This was Nawaki's last chance to do something. He could run out there and demand a fight, or at least that he be allowed bury his mother. But every part of him seemed to have gone numb, even his brain. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged more words, but he couldn't take any of them in anymore. Sasuke's words echoed in his head. _I don't know what will happen to him and right now I don't care. _Even after everything he had just witnessed Sasuke do, the words still stung. His sharingan had stopped hurting, but he didn't dare to open it. He didn't want to feel the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan.

He waited in the tree until Sasuke and the others were long gone. Only then did he allow himself to fall to the ground. He landed in a heap and curled into a ball as he finally came to terms with what had happened. Sakura was dead. Her old team had planned this, although Nawaki didn't know to what extent. Hisa and Oki were in on it as well, and Obito had deliberately encouraged him to come here so that Nawaki could watch his mother die.

A new emotion coursed through him: anger. Anger at Sasuke for killing Sakura, anger at Kakashi and Naruto for watching it and agreeing with it, anger at Hisa and Oki for whatever part they had played in this, anger at Obito for everything and even anger at Sakura for getting herself killed. Most of all there was the anger at himself. He had let her die without lifting a finger, and even now he had no idea what to do. He wanted to go after Sasuke and kill him, but he also wanted to stay curled up like this forever. He let out an angry tearless sob and curled his hands into fists. He allowed himself to break completely, and screamed up at the trees until he was hoarse.

It could have been a minute, or it could have been an hour, but eventually Nawaki stood up. He tried to think about what to do, but his legs had already begun to walk. He was going back to Obito.

!

They waited in silence at the point where Naruto had separated from them. Hisa was still trying to take in everything that had happened. She had seen Sasuke kiss Sakura, and then she had seen him kill her with a chidori. Had it really happened? There was only one way to find out, which was why the two of them were waiting for the others to return.

Oki was fidgeting desperately. Hisa knew that she longed to find Nawaki and help him, but at the same time neither of them could. Nawaki had just watched his father kill his mother, neither Hisa nor Oki had any idea what they could do or say to help him. Something much bigger was going on, and if they were going to be useful in the slightest they needed more information.

It took ten minutes for the others to reach them. Sasuke came first. He barely glanced at them before continuing his run, but the pink haired body slung over his shoulder confirmed everything Hisa had seen. Oki let out a small cry, but Sasuke gave no indication that he had heard.

Kakashi came next. He smiled down at the two of them with what was clearly fake cheer. His eyes never went near Sakura.

"Naruto will be here in a second." he said, his voice dangerously close to breaking, "He'll explain this, don't you worry."

He took off after Sasuke, still avoiding looking at Sakura.

Naruto appeared a few seconds later, and although Hisa wanted nothing more than to immediately start demanding answers, the tears in his eyes and the sadness on his face stopped her. He was heartbroken.

She and Oki flanked him as they leapt from tree to tree. Oki seemed to have reverted to the stony silence of her post-Nawaki's death days. Her eyes were stormy, but Hisa didn't dare ask her what she was feeling. The silence had settled on the three of them like a dark cloud, and each of them were wrapped up in their own confusing thoughts and emotions.

Hisa tried to make sense of everything that had happened. Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi had gone on this mission to capture Sakura. They had brought Hisa and Oki along for an unknown reason, possibly concerning Nawaki. Nawaki was alive, and had seen Sasuke kill Sakura. Nawaki was alive because… Sasuke had killed Sakura because… Hisa didn't know, and she needed answers.

"Did you… Did you decide beforehand that Sasuke would… or was it an accident?"

For a few seconds, Hisa thought Naruto wouldn't reply. But he coughed once and spoke. His voice was a rough growl.

"I had really hoped that I could convince her to come back, but if I couldn't then yes, we planned for Sasuke to do that."

"Why?" she asked softly.

He sighed.

"It's… complicated. There are a lot of secrets surrounding Sakura that only the most important people in Konoha know. Tsunade convinced the five Kage to pass a law at the end of the war forbidding anyone who knew to talk about it. That's why none of your generation know, only the adults. Believe me, I'd love to tell both of you, but as the Hokage I can't break my own laws just because you're my kid."

Hisa tried to make sense of it, but there were too many blanks.

"So because of something that you're not allowed to tell me, Sasuke had to kill Sakura?"

Naruto sighed again and brushed his hand across his eyes.

"Sort of. We've spent years trying to capture her and bring her back, but the other villages were getting restless. They demanded that we get her back at any cost. Sasuke convinced me to let him try and talk to her, but something happened while she was fighting, and he was forced to end it quickly."

Hisa's eyes strayed towards had taken point, which left Sasuke in the middle and the other three bringing up the rear. All the jostling and jumping had twisted Sakura's body around, and she was looking at the three of them upside down. To Hisa's surprise, her eyes weren't completely glazed over yet.

"She's still alive?"

Naruto's voice was tight.

"Yes."

"Will she survive?"

"We'll get her to the nearest hospital as soon as possible."

"Will we make it in time?"

"There's a chance."

"How much of a chance?"

"Too small a chance to count as a whole number. Even if we get her to a hospital the chance that they'll be able to save her is even smaller. It's a fatal wound."

Hisa's eyes met the doomed woman in front of her. Would Sakura's last memory be of Naruto and Hisa calmly discussing her chances of survival? Suddenly, Hisa couldn't bring herself to look at Sakura. She kept her eyes firmly fixed on Sasuke's distracting hair.

"Why did you need me and Oki?"

"If the worst happened and Sasuke killed her, the three of us were meant to track down Nawaki and explain the situation. I don't think Sakura told him all her secrets, but because he's her son he has the right to know. If we could talk to him I could break the law and explain it to all three of you. Hopefully we could convince him to come back to Konoha."

This secret law was starting to frustrate Hisa, but there was another thing that was bothering her.

"You promised to tell us if you knew Nawaki was alive."

Oki's eyes briefly flickered over to Naruto and Hisa realised that she had been thinking the same thing.

Naruto sighed again, never taking his eyes off Sakura. The tears had stopped running down his cheeks but his eyes were still wet.

"I promised to tell you if he was alive if we had full proof. We didn't. All we had were a few documents which proved that Sakura had been in contact with Obito, and that Obito was looking for a new protégé. We still don't know for sure that he's alive, although Sasuke is certain that he was watching the battle. I know that Obito was nearby because he and Sakura blocked Kurama's senses."

"Sasuke was right." Hisa said quietly. "I saw Nawaki's chakra signature-I'd recognise it anywhere."

Naruto's eyes closed briefly and his forehead creased. He sighed once before fixing his eyes back on Sakura.

"Well then, we'll have to assume the worst. Obito's true goals are unknown, but if Nawaki is anything like Sasuke used to be then he'll want revenge on all of us."

_He'll try to destroy Konoha._ Hisa realised. It wasn't that big a thing, many people had attempted to destroy Konoha, and Pein had actually succeeded before Naruto stopped him. If history lessons in the Academy had taught Hisa anything it was that Konoha would always survive and rebuild.

But if Nawaki teamed up with Obito, they would have the power of two Rinnegan and Sharingan. If they managed to defeat Naruto and Sasuke, would they leave any survivors to rebuild?

!

Nawaki stormed back into the hideout, still unsure about what he wanted to do. Obito had sent him to watch his mother die just so that he could get a power-up. Why would Obito, a man who had experienced the pain of losing a loved one, willingly let Nawaki go through the same pain?

He reached his bedroom and looked inside. Obito was waiting for him. He took one look at Nawaki's expression and his eye gleamed with satisfaction. It was enough to set Nawaki off.

Rage bubbled up inside him, and he stuck out his hand. The Rinnegan pulsed once, and Obito was flung into the wall. He made no move to free himself, but the amusement had left his eye and he glared at Nawaki coldly.

"You knew!" Nawaki spat. "You knew he would kill her and you didn't tell me or try to stop it."

Nawaki knew Obito was raising an eyebrow, even if it was hidden beneath his mask.

"I take it Sasuke has killed Sakura? Are you completely sure?"

Nawaki opened his other eye. He had no idea what it looked like, but it seemed to do the trick. Obito's eye crinkled into a smirk of satisfaction.

"Ah, so you have awakened your Mangekyo Sharingan. Good, good, I see it wasn't a wasted opportunity."

His rage increased the power of the Rinnegan, crushing Obito's body into the wall.

"Why?" he yelled. "You know the pain I'm feeling right now, why would you want me to go through it? Why did you want my mother to die?"

Obito's voice was completely calm when he replied.

"Don't be a fool. I am sad that your mother died, but it wasn't unexpected. You needed more power Nawaki, and although I would have preferred if you got it another way, this way is quick and it was available. I did not kill your mother, nor did I force anyone to kill her. Whether you saw it or not she would have died, and you would have found out and been just as upset as you are now. I simply gave you the chance to have a few more moments with her, and it's because of me that you now have a place to stay other than Konoha."

"Why did she die?" Nawaki whispered hoarsely "How did you know that they were coming? How did you know what Sasuke would do?"

"I did not _know _that she was going to die, I simply knew that it was a possibility. As for how I knew that well, it's simple. They needed her to come back to Konoha. Naruto wouldn't have killed her, but perhaps that's why he let Sasuke fight her. After all, with Sakura out of the way there's one less person who knows about you being his son. Of course, this is all just speculation on my part."

"You're lying." Nawaki said coldly. "I remember you told me that there were some things Sakura would want me to know if she died. What are these things? Why did she really leave the village, and why do they want her back so badly?"

Obito's voice turned cold.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you."

"Why not?" Nawaki snapped.

"Because I don't think you are ready to hear them. You need to decide you're course of action based on what you are feeling, not what you know. I am here to help you, and this trauma is something that you must overcome."

"How?" Nawaki whispered.

"You know how, Nawaki. I know how angry you are, and if you are ever to let that anger go it must turn into hatred. You are an Uchiha, as much as you denied it. So tell me, what to you need to do to release your hatred, to move on?"

For a brief moment Nawaki felt regret. His mother had tried to stop him from walking this path all her life, but what Obito said was true. He had Uchiha blood in him, and the Curse of Hatred was part of him. His mind was still a mess, but Obito's words had given him hope. There was a way to overcome his grief, and it was clear to him.

"I need revenge." he said.

He knew that that was what Obito wanted to hear, but the man did a good job of sounding unbiased.

"If that is what your heart is telling you, then I will help. Who is it you seek revenge on?"

Nawaki thought about it long and hard. He needed revenge, but the thought of killing Naruto or Hisa hurt him, and there was no way he would be able to kill Oki.

"I don't want to hurt Konoha." he said firmly. "You won't tell me why they need her, so I don't know if I should hate them or not. I don't want to hate them, I know that there was more than one person involved in her death, but I only saw one person kill her. There's only one person that I need to kill."

Obito waited patiently for him to finish.

"To avenge my mother I will kill Sasuke Uchiha."


	50. Chapter 50

She sat with Naruto in the waiting room of the hospital. Sasuke had dumped the body here and took off immediately, probably towards the police station. Kakashi had been the next to go, mumbling a half-hearted excuse about visiting the memorial stone. Oki hadn't wanted to leave, but someone needed to inform Konohamaru, Ino and Sai what had happened, and Naruto clearly wasn't going anywhere.

That left Hisa and Naruto sitting in the waiting room of Konoha Hospital. Hinata had sent word that she was delayed by Hyuga clan affairs but would be there as soon as she could. Obito was on a mission, but would be back in a day or two. For now, it was just the two of them.

Naruto couldn't stay still. Every few minutes, he jumped up and went into the operation theatre to check on Sakura. Every time this happened, he walked back out with a little less hope in his eyes. After the tenth time, Hisa asked what was happening.

"It doesn't look good." Naruto said quietly. "Parts of her brain have already shut down. They say she won't make it."

"I'm sorry." Hisa said softly, unsure of what else to say.

Naruto shook his head, determination in his eyes.

"Don't be." he said firmly "I won't believe that it's too late until the medics tell me that she's completely dead. Sakura will make it, I won't let there be another option!"

His words were strong, but Hisa could see the desperation in his eyes. Naruto would never back down, but this wasn't his fight. There was nothing he could do to save her. She didn't want to say it, and she knew he wouldn't, but deep down, they both knew the truth. Sakura wasn't walking out of that room.

But saying that wouldn't help him. Naruto needed to come to this conclusion himself. So she sat quietly on the chair and thought about just how messed up everything had become.

Back when she had gone to the Academy there had been lessons on how much Naruto had changed the world. She had believed them obviously, because the changes were all around her. When reading about the times when the villages backstabbed each other and their own soldiers, when there was no trust to be found, it was hard for Hisa to imagine a world like that when her own world seemed so much safer. But now she was starting to doubt if any of it had been true in the first place. If Naruto had changed history, then why was Nawaki out there somewhere, full of grief and anger and confusion? Why were they preparing for another attack on Konoha from Uchiha? Why was history still repeating itself?

Hisa doubted she would ever find the answers. These questions were too big, and she was just a shinobi. She would play her part in the upcoming fight, whatever it may be. That was all any of them could do.

She was drawn out of her thoughts when the door burst open. Sai stormed into the room, a coldly furious look on his face. It was the truest emotion Hisa had ever seen him display. He stormed right over to Naruto and slammed him against the wall.

"What happened?" he snarled, "Why wasn't I told anything? I come home and Oki is waiting for me. She tells me that you, Emo and Kakashi tried to capture Sakura and ended up stabbing a chidori through her heart? Is this true?"

Naruto remained calm, staring Sai down.

"You really have to stop calling Sasuke that; he's going to snap one of these days."

Sai increased the pressure and Hisa winced. Naruto wasn't showing it, but it had to hurt. She looked back to see Ino and Oki enter. Oki was watching Sai and Naruto nervously, while Ino looked completely shell-shocked. Her eyes locked desperately onto Hisa.

"Is it true?" she whispered "Is Sakura…" she nodded her head towards the operation theatre.

Hisa nodded, wishing she knew what to say. Ino's eyes snapped wide for a split second before she squeezed them tightly shut. She turned abruptly and stormed out of the room. Oki quickly ran after her, leaving Hisa to watch Sai and Naruto.

"Why?" Sai asked "Why didn't I know about this? I'm a member of Team 7 too! Why didn't I get to go? Why didn't I get the chance to help her?"

"It wasn't about the team." Naruto replied, "It was about Sasuke, the rest of us were there because we were powerful enough to contain the damage if things got out of hand. Hisa and Oki were there because of Nawaki. _Think _Sai. With Sasuke, Kakashi and me all out trying to capture Sakura, who else could I afford to take with me? I left Konohamaru in charge, but if word got out that we were all gone I needed you in the village to defend against attacks. You're one of the highest-ranking ANBU captains. You were too valuable to take with me."

Sai's expression didn't change, but he released his grip on Naruto. Naruto slid down the wall, looking completely unruffled, as if the incident had never happened.

"If you want you can go in and talk to her." he said, gesturing towards the door. "They're operating on her, but they said that anyone whose voice is familiar to her will help keep her brain from shutting down completely."

"Why would I want to go in if she's coming out soon anyways?"

Naruto opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Sai closed his eyes for a few seconds.

"I see." he said "So she's dying. I didn't know that it was like that."

"She's not dying!" Naruto yelled.

Sai continued as if he hadn't said a word.

"I suppose, in that case, I will go in. I'd like to say a few last words to her. I believe that's the custom, correct?"

"There's no need!" Naruto cried "She'll be out of that room in no time! You can talk to her then."

"That's precisely why I want to talk to her now." Sai stated, "After all, there's no point talking to a corpse, they can't hear you anyway."

He walked into the theatre before Naruto could reply.

!

The first instruction Obito gave was not to use the Mangekyo Sharingan.

"It's only for emergencies, or if there's no other way to win the fight." he explained. "Every time you use it your eyesight will grow worse. The only way to stop the blindness is by getting the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, like your father has."

"Don't call him that." Nawaki said firmly. "He's not my father. He's never been my father."

Obito raised an eyebrow. Nawaki knew that it was immature of him, but he couldn't help it. His mind was still a mess, and he still had no idea what he was doing. He just wanted to ease the pain and grief he was feeling and Obito seemed certain that killing Sasuke would help.

"Very well then." Obito said, "Would you prefer if I call him 'that man' or perhaps He Who Must Not Be Named?"

"No." Nawaki sighed. "Just call him Sasuke. I don't want… I don't want to have any connection with him."

"Except for the bond of hate." Obito added.

"Except for that." Nawaki amended "I don't want that connection either, but it's there whether I want it or not."

"Exactly." said Obito. "Now, to get back to what I was saying, don't use the Mangekyo. I'll try to keep you out of fights until you get the opportunity to fight Sasuke. Only in that fight must you go all out. If you win, no, _when _you win, you can take his eyes. It won't be as strong as eyes from a sibling, but it should stop most of the blindness."

"Take his eyes?" Nawaki gasped "I can't do that! I can't kill him and take his eyes!"

"Why not?" Obito asked, sounding irritated.

"Because it's wrong!" Nawaki yelled. "I'll kill him to avenge Sakura, but I won't stoop to his level. I won't take his eyes unless he gives me permission, which he won't, because I'll be trying to kill him."

"So you are content to go blind?" Obito snapped. "That man is the reason you now have the Mangekyo. Surely it is right for you to take back what he stole?"

"Killing him is enough." Nawaki said shortly. "I'm not taking his eyes, end of story."

Obito sighed, and gave Nawaki another annoyed look.

"You're stubborn." he admitted. "But not stupidly so. Well then, let's move on. I'll train you nonstop for three weeks. At the end of the third week, we move towards Konoha."

"Then what?" Nawaki asked.

"We defeat anyone who gets in our way. I'll create a distraction in Konoha, which should hopefully keep Naruto and most of the village occupied. You head towards the police station and find Sasuke. Using the training I will give you, you will defeat him and avenge your mother."

"Then what?" Nawaki asked again, unsure this time.

"We escape and hide until it all dies down. I will keep training you, and after a few years when the incident has been forgotten, you will go back to Konoha."

"And they'll let me back just like that?" Nawaki asked sceptically.

"Of course not." Obito agreed. "You will probably be put on trial and sentenced to either prison or probation. If you explain yourself Naruto should convince the council not to give you the death penalty."

"Really?" Nawaki asked incredulously. "Naruto's forgiving and understanding, but you're saying he'll be sympathetic towards me after I kill his best friend."

Obito shrugged.

"Pein killed three of his sensei and all he did was talk. I'm still not sure how he convinced Pein to commit suicide, but hey, he did it without needing violence. Obviously he needed to take down the other Peins, but he didn't touch the real one. All he needed to do was show Pein this old book. If it worked for Pein it will probably work for you."

Nawaki shook his head slightly. This conversation was starting to get confusing. Secretly, he had his own plan. He didn't trust Obito. The man clearly didn't care how hurt Nawaki got, as long as he completed his own agenda. As soon as he killed Sasuke, he was taking off on his own before Obito could find him. Obito seemed determined that he would go back to Konoha, but Nawaki didn't like that idea. He had experience as a wandering fugitive, so he was fairly certain that he could survive moving from town to town. Why would he go back to Konoha? Once Sasuke was dead, what was there for him?

Images of faces flashed in his mind. Naruto, Ino, Sai, Hinata, Konohamaru, Hisa.

Oki.

He shook his head harder this time. He couldn't think about any of that just yet. His feelings towards all of them were confused. He didn't hate them, but they conflicted with his anger towards Sakura's death. Right now, thinking of any of them only brought him pain.

"Forget that for now, there's only one thing I want to be clear on." Nawaki said.

"Oh?" Obito said curiously "What's that?"

"This 'distraction' that you're going to cause," Nawaki began, "Will people die in it? This is between me and Sasuke, so as far as I'm concerned the people of Konoha are all innocent bystanders. I don't want them to get hurt."

"I don't know the future Nawaki." Obito replied. "Perhaps people will get hurt accidentally, it will be a fight after all, but I will try my best not to hurt or kill unless it's necessary."

Nawaki looked into Obito's visible eye, and knew that his own definition of 'necessary' was very different to Obito's. Obito did have a point however. It was a fight, so people were going to get hurt. Nawaki knew that it wasn't going to go as easily as planned, and doubts plagued his mind every time he allowed it to wander. Was this the right thing to do? He didn't know anymore. He was far too deep over his head, but he couldn't see any way to turn back.

"Fine." he sighed, "Let's continue the training."

Obito was staring curiously at him. Nawaki stared back, puzzled.

"What?" he asked.

"Why do you want to spare the people of Konoha? After all, they were involved in the death of your mother. Don't you feel any hatred towards them?"

Nawaki grew angry. Was Obito trying to make him hate the world? What was the point of that?

"Maybe I would hate them if you explained to me why exactly she was killed!" he yelled.

"I can't do that." Obito replied coolly.

"Then I can't feel hatred towards them." Nawaki said simply. "For all I know, Sakura could have been planning an invasion and they needed to take her down. Since you insist that I must not know, I can't decide whether I should hate them or not. For now, the only one I need to kill is Sasuke."

"She wasn't planning an invasion." Obito said. "She wasn't planning to attack or hurt Konoha at all. They came after her, not the other way around."

Enough was enough. Nawaki was sick of Obito holding this secret over his head.

"Stop with the cryptic bullshit." he said "Either tell me the full story or don't tell me anything at all, but don't keep bringing it up and dropping little hints. I'm not interested in playing mind games."

Even with his back turned, Nawaki could feel Obito's sinister smile.

"Shall we continue the training?" Obito asked.

Nawaki nodded once, and they walked out of the cave.

!

"It's almost over."

That was what the medics had said. Two days of waiting with Naruto in the hospital, and this was the result.

Naruto's face had crumpled when he had heard that. Luckily, Hinata had arrived the day before, and had been with him ever since. She let Naruto bury his head in her shoulder and rubbed his back soothingly as he cried, her face filled with sorrow

Hisa hadn't been sure how to react. Even though he was her dad, and he was often goofy around his family, he was Naruto Uzumaki, the Hokage. She had never seen him in a fight where he didn't overpower his opponent after ten seconds. He was a legend, the invincible, unbreakable Hokage. Yet here he was, looking completely broken.

Hinata noticed her staring, and gave her a gentle smile.

"He'll be alright." she said softly "It's just that Sakura is very special to him. She's more than a person to him; she stood for everything he fought for when he was a child. Even as he grew older, she was one of the people in the centre of his world. It's a hard blow, but we'll all help him cope."

Hisa nodded, unsure of what else to say. It was still uncomfortable seeing him like this. Hinata seemed to understand.

"Why don't you go home and get some sleep?" she suggested. "Obito should be back from his mission soon, and it would help if someone was home to explain to him where we are."

It sounded appealing to Hisa, but she didn't feel like she could abandon her dad when he was this distraught. Once again, Hinata seemed to read her thoughts and understand.

"You've been a great help to him, staying here for two full days. But you don't need to do it on your own. I'll look after him until it's over. You take this time to relax, and deal with your own problems. We all need a break at some point, and I can see just by looking at you that you need yours now."

Hisa shot her a grateful smile. She placed her hand on her dad's shoulder and gripped it firmly for a few seconds. Then she walked out the door and headed for home.

She walked along the bustling streets, wrapped up in her own thoughts. Out of the corner of her eye she thought she spied Kawa, but she didn't feel like talking to him today. Hinata was right, she was exhausted.

Suddenly, she noticed that someone was blocking her path. She looked up to find one of the shopkeepers staring down at her curiously. He was staring down at her closed right eye, to be precise.

"Excuse me." she muttered, stepping to the side.

He shifted slightly so that he was still blocking her path. She sighed mentally; it always annoyed her when this happened.

"What's the deal with your eye?" he asked curiously. "Did you lose it in a fight, or are you hiding something in it? People are saying that you have the Sharingan, you know."

She gritted her teeth. Who even _was_ this guy? According to people like him, being the Hokage's daughter meant that you should be willing to talk to every random stranger you meet. It wasn't like he actually cared about her, he was just wanted some gossip.

"Get out of the way." she snapped. "It's none of your business."

He let her go this time, but she heard him mumble "Stuck-up little bitch." as she walked past. She ignored him and kept walking. This wasn't the first, or even the tenth time that this had happened. She had developed a thick skin to comments like that years ago.

As she walked, she heard a crash from behind. She turned around to see the shopkeeper being shoved against the wall. To her surprise, it was her brother who was pushing him, Kawa snarling at his side.

"What did you just call my sister?" Obito snarled.

The shopkeeper looked like he was about to wet himself. Hisa quickly ran back and pushed Obito's hand off the man. Obito let her, but kept the man pinned with his glare.

"What did she ever do to you?" he yelled. "What gives you the right to call her anything like that? She's not here to answer your questions!"

"Obito! Let it go." Hisa interrupted. She was surprised by her brother's attitude. He was normally friendly and peaceful, but he looked livid now. Kawa had yet to say anything, but was sending the man an ugly glare.

"Didn't you here what he called you? He shouldn't say that to you! I was watching what happened; you didn't do anything to deserve being called that! Why didn't you stick up for yourself?"

Hisa struggled to keep her voice calm and level when she replied.

"Well I used to push them through walls when they said stuff like that, but that didn't really make them like me a lot. Just let him go, this is pointless."

Obito scowled, but did what she said. Giving the man one last dirty look, he turned around and followed Hisa and Kawa down the street.

"How long has this been going on for?" Kawa asked.

Hisa shrugged.

"The random strangers asking me questions? It's been happening since I was a kid. It got more frequent after I got the Rinnegan, but then it died down. Then when I got the Sharingan, it started becoming the popular thing to do again, but by this time I had learnt not to let it get to me."

She turned and smiled at Obito.

"Thanks for sticking up for me, but you didn't have to do that. I'm used to this kind of stuff. Besides, I probably _did _push him through a wall years ago. You on the other hand, have a great reputation with the villagers. Don't ruin it because of me."

Obito grinned down at her and began to whistle.

"I'm your big brother, it's a part of my job description to get mad at people for saying things like that. Besides, when have I ever cared about my reputation?"

Hisa felt warmth grow in the pit of her stomach. It felt nice walking beside the two of them, listening and laughing with them. She found that the villagers' stares were easier to ignore this way.

As Kawa launched into a description of their latest mission, Hisa zoned out for a bit. She couldn't stop thinking of Nawaki. Being here and enjoying herself felt wrong when she knew Nawaki was out there in pain. Sometimes if she focused hard enough, she could catch a flicker of emotion sweeping through her. She could be mistaken, but it felt like she was experiencing one of Nawaki's emotions. It had only happened once or twice, so she couldn't be sure, but both of those times she had felt irrationally angry and hurt. The first time was when she was buying ice-cream from the vendor at the hospital, so it definitely didn't feel natural then.

Obito's laugh jolted her out of her thoughts. As she joined in with the conversation, she realised that there was no point worrying about Nawaki now. Hinata had been right; she should rest while she could. Sooner or later Nawaki would confront them, but for today it was peaceful.

She was determined to enjoy it while it lasted.


	51. Chapter 51

**A/N: Just to remind everyone that this is an AU, and all events past chapter 618 aren't necessarily cannon in this story. Updates might take longer, seeing as I'm going away on various holidays. I'll try to update as quickly as I can though, so thanks to everyone who's waited for the next chapter.**

**Thanks again for all the reviews. Over a 1000 views and 95 reviews is amazing, and I never thought my first fanfic would get that much. I appreciate every one of them.**

It was time.

The three weeks had passed too slowly for Nawaki, but at last he was ready. He had trained and trained, until he had at least ten different ways to counter all of Sasuke's known attacks. It had cost him countless sleepless nights staying awake practising, but the result was worth it. He felt stronger than he ever had before.

He stood at the mouth of the cave staring into the distance. Somewhere out there was Sasuke. Did he know that Nawaki was coming for him? Did it worry him at all? Nawaki doubted it. Sasuke didn't care about him, so why would he be worried? Nawaki's face twisted into a grim smile. Sasuke would regret it. He would regret everything once Nawaki was finished with him.

Three weeks had not dimmed Nawaki's desire for revenge. In fact, it was the opposite. Nawaki knew that a lot of it had to do with Obito. Not all of their training had been physical. Nawaki and Obito had spent a lot of time talking. Nawaki had found himself trying to think of convincing arguments to get out of this, but Obito had countered him every time, leaving him with nothing but anger and hatred.

"I'm not sure about this." Nawaki had said one night "Isn't there any other way to get rid of this grief?"

"You are an Uchiha." Obito had replied "The Curse of Hatred has been written in history for generations now. You are no different. When it is over, you will understand."

Nawaki no longer had any delusions about thinking clearly. He accepted the fact that he could no longer think logically or rationally. That was why he needed to kill Sasuke. His own anger combined with Obito's manipulation had smothered him, and the only way to break free was to vent his anger onto the man he knew deserved it.

He was drawn out of his thoughts by the sound of footsteps. Obito walked up to him, mask firmly in place. Nawaki had never wondered about the origins of the mask, but it was interesting. The mask was pure black with two eyeholes ringed with purple. The edge of the mask was blood-red. Obito wore a long-sleeved black uniform with a small Uchiha crest on the right pant leg. Over this he wore a dark-blue hooded cloak, with a black flame spiralling pattern. On his back he carried a large scroll. It made him look intimidating, but Obito didn't really need that. His mere presence was enough to intimidate most shinobi.

Nawaki himself was wearing new clothes that Obito had given him. His hair had grown too long for him to let it hang loosely around his shoulders, but he hadn't wanted to tie it up in a ponytail like the Nara clan did. He wanted Sasuke to recognize him when they fought. So he tied it back in a low ponytail that extended to his shoulder blades. His old fake ANBU uniform was in tatters, so Obito had found some now clothes for him. A pair of white boots, purple trousers, a mesh shirt and a grey vest: the remnants of an Akatsuki uniform. _I might as well wear the cloak and walk around humming creepy music. _Nawaki thought wryly.

"Are you ready to go?" Obito asked him.

"Do you think I'm ready?" Nawaki countered.

"I do." Obito replied. "It may have only been three weeks, but you've trained like a madman. With your Rinnegan and Senju DNA, you already have the advantage over Sasuke. Of course, if you are about to die, I will come and save you. We can retreat and train harder. But I doubt you'll lose this; you're too driven."

"How can you save me if I'm about to die?" Nawaki asked. "Actually, how did you manage to do that constant warping thing? Doesn't that damage your eyes at all?"

Obito's sharingan eye had that unpleasant gleam that Nawaki hated.

"There are three reasons. One, I have the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan of the deceased Madara Uchiha. Two, the Senju DNA that flows through my body is a natural booster that gives my sharingan more power. Three, I have a hideaway near Kumo filled with sharingan. I'm fairly sure there are one or two Mangekyo's in there somewhere. Basically, I have everything I need to keep my sharingan in perfect condition."

Nawaki decided not to ask further. He really didn't want to know how Obito had a hideaway filled with sharingan.

"Then I suppose we should start." he said, stepping out into the sunlight.

Obito put a hand on his shoulder, surprising him.

"I just want you to know that whether we win or lose, I'm proud of you."

Nawaki had no idea what to say to that. Obito had never said anything like that before. But now that Nawaki thought about it, he realised that Obito had become more of a father-figure to him than anyone else. Even Konohamaru and Naruto hadn't given him as much attention as Obito. Naruto had a village to run, and Konohamaru had two other students to deal with, so Nawaki understood. But the fact remained that Obito had given him the most training, attention and praise he had ever had. True, the man could be very creepy, and sometimes Nawaki despised him, but he was still the closest thing to a father that Nawaki had ever had.

"Thank you." he replied eventually, unsure of what else to say.

Obito nodded, seemingly satisfied. He stepped out of the cave mouth and the two of them began to walk.

!

It had taken a full week for the medics to give the final verdict.

_When they had finally come out and announced that it was over, Naruto's face had been eerily blank. He had moved slowly, as if in a trance, and walked into the room. He had sat on a chair and stared at the unmoving pink-haired body. Hisa hadn't known it was possible for him to be this still. _

_No one had been able to get through to him. Not Hisa, Obito or even Hinata. He hadn't responded, or taken his eyes off Sakura. Hinata had tried getting Sasuke to come, but he had sent word saying he needed to help Konohamaru keep the village running. After that, they had all just sat there, taking turns to hug Naruto. No one knew what to do to snap him out of it._

_To everyone's surprise, it had been Kakashi who had eventually got through to him._

_He had shown up that night without any warning. His eye had swept the room, taking note of everyone. Then he had walked up and sat down next to Naruto._

_"She won't respond." he said. "No matter how much you stare at her, she won't move."_

_Naruto had continued to stare, but one tear had trickled down his cheek._

_"This happened to me before." Kakashi continued in a conversational tone. "When I thought Obito died, I didn't know how to handle it. I isolated myself from my sensei and Rin, even though they were hurting just as bad. I spent every spare minute down at the memorial stone. I didn't respond when people asked me what was wrong, and I basically just made everything worse. It took me a long time to snap out of it, far too long. It happened again both times when Rin and sensei died. Each time, it took me less and less time to snap out of it. Then, when I discovered that Obito was alive, I swore that I wouldn't do it again. All the hurt I had put my loved ones through wasn't worth it."_

_He had gazed sadly up at the hospital ceiling. Naruto still didn't respond, but Hisa knew he was listening._

_"But when this happened, I ran. I escaped to the memorial stone, and repeated my mistakes. I am truly sorry that I haven't been around these past few days. But when I heard what was happening to you Naruto, I knew I had to do something. You can't follow in my footsteps, people need you too much."_

_Naruto had looked up at Kakashi, startling everyone. _

_"People… need me?"_

_Kakashi nodded._

_"Yes. Konohamaru and Sasuke are doing everything they can, but they aren't used to the amount of work you have to do. Konoha needs their Hokage. We can't afford to have you stuck here."_

_Naruto had slowly stood up. He had looked around the room, as if noticing for the first time that his whole family was there. Then he had looked back at Kakashi._

_"Five hours." he said. "Five hours, then I'm coming back here."_

_"Fine." Kakashi said. "As long as you only stay for two hours."_

_"Fine." Naruto had responded, and with that he had swept out of the room._

_Hisa had wondered if she should have mentioned that Sakura would probably not be in the room in five hours, but had decided against it. Wherever they took her, Naruto would find it._

That had been two weeks ago. Now, Naruto was back as Hokage. The threat of Nawaki and Obito still hung over them, but they were dealing with it. Team 7 was currently taking a break from missions, and Hisa hadn't seen Sasuke since he had dumped Sakura at the hospital.

Hisa had divided her time between Naruto and Oki's family. Ino and Sai had taken the news slightly better than Naruto. Sai was barely around, throwing himself into his work as an ANBU. Ino did her duties as the head of the Yamanaka clan, but every time Hisa saw her she looked more and more fragile, her smile starting to mirror her husband in falseness. For someone who hadn't even been in the village for the past twelve years, Sakura had influenced a lot of Konoha's elite. Everyone from Kawa's uncle Kiba to the Kazekage's brother seemed to be upset at the news.

The full story of Nawaki's parentage had been explained to the higher-ups, and the village was beginning to prepare for an attack. Gaara had sent his three children- now all jonin- to help. Hisa hadn't been looking forward to meeting them. Yashamaru had looked around nervously, Karura had smiled pleasantly and Naruko had stared coldly off into the distance. _No big changes here. _Hisa had thought.

Luckily, she had been spared greeting them by a welcome distraction.

"YOSH!"

A spandex-clad figure had appeared in a sparkly puff. He had smiled down at the three children and struck a pose.

"It is I, Rock Lee! Konoha's Beautiful Green Wild Beast! You three must be Gaara's most youthful offspring! I have been set the task of showing you around Konoha, and explaining what is happening! May the power of youth guide us!"

The look on their faces had been priceless.

Lee had dragged them off, but not before Naruko had sent Hisa one death-filled look. Hisa had simply smiled and waggled her fingers as Lee dragged Naruko away.

But as the days went by, Hisa began to feel a growing sense of dread. Something didn't feel right, and she knew she wasn't the only one who sensed it. Perhaps she sensed it the clearest, but Oki, Naruto and possibly Sasuke also sensed it. They were coming.

That was why Hisa found herself standing in the Valley of the End three weeks after their return to the village. She didn't have a proper reason for being here; her senses had simply urged her to come. So she had gathered up all her weapons and tools, and had left the village and come here.

No one was here except her. She sat on the head of the first Hokage's statue, and stared across the waterfall. If Nawaki did show up, it would be fitting for the two of them to fight here. Perhaps she could stop him from even getting near Konoha. Nawaki's pride wouldn't let anyone else but him fight her. Hopefully watching Sakura get stabbed hadn't changed that; otherwise she would be in trouble.

Perhaps she should have brought backup, but she couldn't really bring a whole bunch of jonin here because of a hunch. She had checked beforehand with her parents if she was needed for anything, and had found herself free.

She had thought about telling Oki and Konohamaru where she was going, but had decided against it in the end. This was between her and Nawaki, and if he managed to beat her someone needed to be in the village to stop him. Hisa knew that Oki had a better chance of getting through to him than she did, but she had a better chance of beating him then Oki did.

So she sat, and she waited.

!

Nawaki found himself veering left, much to Obito's surprise.

"Where are you going?" Obito had asked sharply.

"I think there's a shortcut this way." Nawaki had explained. "We can cut through the Valley of the End and get to Konoha quicker."

"There's a bigger chance of being spotted if we go that way. Are you sure that you want to risk it?"

"I'm sure." Nawaki had said firmly. "We can deal with anyone we meet as long as it's not an elite jonin or higher. I just want to get this over with as quickly as possible."

Obito hadn't said anything else, but he had changed his course to match Nawaki's.

!

A rustle behind her had Hisa reaching for a kunai. To her surprise, she saw that it was Naruto.

"Dad! What are you doing here?"

Naruto smiled at her.

"Here to wish you luck of course!"

He saw Hisa's puzzled expression and explained.

"I know why you came here, and I get it. I kinda have a feeling that he's going to come here too."

Hisa nodded.

"Are you going to fight him then? I mean, you a_re _the Hokage."

Naruto's eyes widened and he shook his head.

"No way! Like I said, I just came to wish you luck. This is your fight; I'll be busy organizing the village defences."

Hisa grinned.

"It's not like you'll need them. They may have two Rinnegan but they're up against the Sage of Six Paths!"

She watched Naruto's face drop into a slightly guilty expression.

"Yeah, about that…"

"I was joking." she said plainly. "I know I'm not anywhere near the Sage's level. One day I will be though!"

The guilty expression didn't go away. Hisa sighed. She was probably going to regret this.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Naruto looked sheepish, which was never a good sign.

"It's… a long story, but remember when I told you that the person who got the Rinnegan naturally was rumoured to be the next Sage?"

"Of course I do." she said "Then I got the Rinnegan and started training to reach that level."

The guilty expression got worse.

"Well, the thing is, during the war I had a run in with the Ten-Tails and it… sensed something inside me. I didn't really consider it that much, but I was sitting in my office eating some ramen and it hit me."

"What hit you?" Hisa asked, her voice unnervingly calm.

"That being the next Sage of Six Paths isn't about the eyes. It's about the _spirit._"

"This _spirit _being the spirit that you have?"

"… Yeah, kinda."

"I see." she said, voice still even. "So what you're saying is the Ten-Tails recognized that you had the same spirit that the Sage had, effectively making _you _the next Sage of Six Paths, correct?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Naruto looked at her concernedly.

"Are you ok with this? I mean, I know how much you wanted to prove yourself, but now there's no pressure to-"

"I'm fine." Hisa interrupted "Absolutely fine. I mean, I just found out that the one way I thought I could get out of your shadow has already been taken by you. But that's ok. I only spent six years dealing with people who thought that _I _was the Sage, and training just to prove to them that I could handle it. So yeah, I'm completely fine."

"You can still become the Sage." Naruto said quietly "If there's a second Sage there can be a third."

"What's the point?" she yelled "What's the point of being the next _you?_ I actually thought that Kakashi's 'younger generation surpassing the older' shit might be true, that I could one day be better then you! But you're Naruto fucking Uzumaki! I'm never going to be anything other than your daughter!"

She was ranting now, but she didn't care. She needed to get this off her chest at some point, she might as well do it all in one go.

"I thought that maybe being the Sage could help me create my own identity. I was desperate enough to try and build a reputation based solely on my eyes, and now you just come and casually say 'Sorry Hisa, but I've been there done that. Better luck next time!' all because you just _happened to remember it. _I mean _what the fuck?"_

"Hisa." Naruto said calmly "What are you doing right now?"

"What am I doing?" she shrieked "I'm waiting for a fight that probably won't happen all because I felt like coming out here. That's what I'm doing! And I'm ranting at you because you took away one of my biggest dreams!"

"When I was your age." Naruto said "I wasn't even a genin. I was the worst in my class. You're at the level of at least a Tokubetsu Jonin. I couldn't even run up a tree at your age, and in a few hours you'll probably be fighting a huge threat to the village on your own."

"It's only a hunch." she muttered.

"You have Nawaki's right eye." he reminded her "You're 'hunch' is the best we have right now. Look, what I'm trying to say is that you _will _get out of my shadow and you _will _become your own person. I'm not going to fight Nawaki now, you are. Today, you get the chance to become a legend in your own right."

"Fancy words." Hisa said "But I don't buy it. You mastered senjutsu at the age of sixteen, so it doesn't really matter where you were at age eleven. As for becoming a 'legend'? Nawaki's Nawaki, he's only one person. I'm not fighting him to become a legend; I'm fighting him because he's attacking Konoha, and because he's my friend."

"Do you think it was different for me?" Naruto shot back "Yes I wanted to be Hokage so that people would acknowledge me, but I wanted to get Sasuke back because he was my friend. When Pein attacked Konoha I fought him because he was hurting the people I love, not so I could get attention."

Hisa sighed, recognizing the truth in his words.

"I'm sorry." she muttered. "I shouldn't have freaked out. It doesn't really matter what people say about me, as long as I stop Nawaki."

Naruto grabbed her shoulders and bent down until he was looking into her eyes.

"It matters to me." he said gently "_You _matter to me."

What else could she do but hug him? Sometimes, her dad could seem very dense, but when it really mattered, he knew just what to say.

Naruto left then, and Hisa went back to sitting on the statue. She was determined not to think about the conversation, other than Naruto's last words. Nawaki was probably going to be slightly messed up in the head when they met, so she needed to keep hers clear.

After what seemed like three hours passed, Hisa began thinking about heading back. It would be quite a let-down after all that talk if Nawaki didn't even show up, but there never was any real evidence that he would. Only a vague feeling.

Another hour passed by and Hisa was almost ready to fall asleep. It wasn't that she was tired, she was just _bored._

Suddenly, a figure appeared on the statue opposite. Even from this distance, Hisa could tell who it was.

"Nawaki."


	52. Chapter 52

Nawaki groaned as he recognized the figure standing on Hashirama's statue. What the hell was _she _doing here? Of all the people he had to fight to get to Sasuke, the only person he wanted to face less than her was Naruto or Oki.

Obito appeared at his side, staring across at the girl on the statue.

"Should I kill her?" he asked "Or do you want me to keep her distracted while you slip by?"

"No." Nawaki sighed "I'll fight her. If I can't defeat her, then what chance do I have against Sasuke? This will be a good test, seeing as she has a sharingan."

Obito shrugged, before melting back into the shadows.

"I will watch you then. Try and get this over with as quickly as possible."

"Don't worry." Nawaki replied, "I doubt this will take long."

He moved forward, walking out of the trees and onto the statue of Madara. Both his sharingan and his rinnegan were open and active, and as he got nearer he saw that she was the same. She was sitting down at first, but when she noticed him she stood up and walked towards the edge of the statue.

"Nawaki." she said, not sounding surprised in the least.

Nawaki kept his face blank and cold. He couldn't afford to let his emotions get the better of him. Not today.

!

Hisa watched as he drew closer. He stared at her coldly, looking the spitting image of his father. She decided not to mention that.

"Long time, no see Nawaki." she called over "I see you've grown."

"I see you haven't."

Ouch. So he was in one of _those _moods.

"You here to come back to the village? You can see Sakura again, and try and work things out with Sasuke."

She knew that it was unlikely that he would listen, but she had to try.

"Obito has spies in the village. He told me everything." Nawaki replied "There's no point looking at Sakura if she isn't looking back. I'm not here to talk things out with Sasuke, I'm here to kill him."

"Ah, so you're angry. You know, we have therapy for this kind of thing. Back in Konoha there are counsellors specially equipped with dealing with your kind of problems. I think they call it 'Uchiha-angst'. You should come and try it."

Nawaki's cold expression broke and he glared at her angrily.

"Are you making fun of me?" he growled.

"Of course." she shrugged "You're Nawaki. I mock you on a daily basis for normal things, but if you show up swearing vengeance and trying to be intimidating then how could you expect me _not _to make fun of you?"

"Because Sasuke stabbed my mother in the heart with a chidori right in front of me!" he snapped.

Hisa sighed.

"I am sorry that that happened, but you're not the only one who suffered. My dad was shattered, as were Ino and Sai, but you don't see them going around trying to avenge her."

"They weren't related. None of them would understand-"

"Naruto was treated like a pariah for his entire childhood." Hisa interrupted "Sai was forced to watch his brother die right in front of him. Hinata was made to feel like a burden to her family. Auntie Hanabi was controlled by her father to be the Hyuga heir, and then cast aside like she was nothing. Hizashi grew up believing his father was a failure and so was he. Oki was tortured daily by her own sister for years, and even I have something that could vaguely resemble a sob story. If you go up to anyone and tap them on the back, chances are that they've had some horrible trauma happen to them. I do care about you Nawaki, but if you show up with a notorious ex-criminal and try to attack Konoha, I'll bring you down, no matter what reasons you may have."

"If you knew the full story, you'd be attacking the village by my side." Nawaki said.

Hisa frowned. Something was… off about that statement. If felt like Nawaki was bluffing. Did he even know why they had been tracking Sakura?

"Well I don't." she replied "And I really don't think you're interested in convincing me. You just want to fight me so that you can continue on your merry little way. So let's stop the chit chat and get to it."

Nawaki smirked slightly. He was different, a lot cockier than normal. He gave off an air of undisputable confidence which worried Hisa slightly.

"Are you so eager to lose?" he smirked "Why not keep talking? Otherwise, I'll finish this in a flash."

"What makes you so sure you'll beat me?" she asked, keeping her voice casual.

"I beat you before, didn't I?" he said "That was before I even got the Rinnegan and the Senju DNA. You may have my sharingan, but you don't stand a chance against me."

"You're forgetting something." she said, reaching into her pocket. "Last time we fought, I didn't have these."

She pulled out one of her special kunai and twirled it around her finger. Unfortunately, she twirled it too far and it slipped off and fell down the waterfall.

_Goddammit, _she groaned _why does that never happen in the movies?_

Nawaki looked decidedly unimpressed, even as she pulled out another one.

"You may have those, but I have something that you don't know how to fight against."

He closed his left eye, and when he opened it again the sharingan pattern had changed. The three tomeo were gone, and instead two black lines made an X across the eye. The centre of the X had a red rimmed black circle, so Hisa presumed that was the pupil. The beginning and end of each line was pointed outwards, which made them look like double edged stakes. It was undoubtedly a Mangekyo Sharingan.

_How the hell does he have that? _Hisa wondered. She forced herself to remain calm, and raised an eyebrow at Nawaki.

"So your eye can make fancy patterns. It's not going to make you win."

Nawaki stared at her in disbelief, his sharingan going back to normal.

"Do you really not know what this is? This is the-"

"-Mangekyo Sharingan, I know." Hisa finished "But I also know that using it causes you to go blind, so I doubt you'll be in a hurry to use it. You probably just brought it out to try and intimidate me, which, as I said before, you're failing miserably at. Why are you so determined to beat me anyway? Shouldn't you be completely focused on killing your dad? Not that killing your dad is a good thing, because really, it's a very, very bad and _stupid _thing."

"Why did you come out here? Why are the Uchiha and Senju always fighting here?" Nawaki asked "Its fate. You sensed it, I sensed it. It's in our blood to fight."

"But… you do realise that every time an Uchiha and Senju fight the Uchiha _loses, _right? Besides, I know you Nawaki. You're not the bad guy."

His face could have been made of stone for all the impact her words made on him.

"There is no good and bad. There are only winners and losers. It has always been the Uchiha's fate to lose to the Senju, but I will change that today. I Nawaki Uchiha will defeat you, Hisa Uzumaki. If I am strong enough to defeat you, and turn the tide of history, then I will be strong enough to defeat Sasuke."

Hisa sighed. Somehow, Obito Uchiha had tipped Nawaki over onto the crazy side. Dealing with Hyuga's for years had made Hisa somewhat immune to all the discussions and debates about fate. She didn't think there was any point trying to live her life because of _fate _or _destiny._ Shit happens, you either learn to live with it or you don't. In Nawaki's case, he had decided not to, and all this talk about fate made that crystal clear to Hisa. However, she doubted there was any point in telling him so. She needed to use Nawaki's own logic against him.

"You're missing something pretty big here." she informed him.

He frowned.

"What's that?" he asked reluctantly

She pointed to her left eye.

"Yes, you have the Rinnegan. I know." he snapped

She sighed and shook her head.

"I didn't steal a sharingan to get this. I got it naturally."

She saw Nawaki's eyes widen in understanding.

"I'm not just a descendant of the Senju. I'm half Uchiha too."

"Don't be stupid!" Nawaki snapped "You're Rinnegan is a poor imitation at best. Hyuga blood does not make you an Uchiha!"

"Well if that's true than I'm not a Senju either, because my DNA must have done _something_ right to produce an 'imitation'. Either way, this isn't an Uchiha fighting against a Senju. This is you being stupid and attacking my village because a madman has convinced you that it will make you _feel better._"

She felt Nawaki's chakra darken slightly and knew that she had hit the nail right on the head.

"You were right. Talking is pointless. I have a mission, and you're in my way."

That was all the warning she got before Nawaki lunged.

!

Kunai in hand, Nawaki lunged. As angry as he was, he had no intention of killing her unless he was pushed to the extreme. However, he needed to subdue her somehow, and Obito's warning about using the Mangekyo rang through his head. He was prepared to cripple her or maim her if he needed to.

His kunai pushed forward, aiming for her ribcage. But when he stabbed he met nothing but air. He smirked as he heard her land on the Madara statue. It was strange how different it felt. After sparring together for years, a few weeks apart shouldn't have made it so hard not to anticipate each other. But Nawaki felt like he was fighting a stranger. Of course, Hisa wasn't a stranger, which meant that she had simply gotten stronger and faster in a short period of time, much like Nawaki himself.

"Not bad." he said "But not good enough."

He made the hand-seal and smiled as the top of Madara's statue exploded. He turned around, unsurprised to see nothing but smoke and flames. She couldn't have gotten out of that without the exploding tags burning a good portion of her body.

Suddenly, he felt the cold metal of a kunai pressing into his neck.

"How?" he asked, genuinely surprised "I didn't give you time to throw any of your kunai."

"I've trained with you for years Nawaki." Hisa replied "The mark of this seal never goes away. I learnt how to mark people with it when I was eight. You were the first person I tried it out on while fighting."

"I see." he said calmly.

He quickly grabbed her arm and twisted it so that the kunai was no longer against his neck and he was facing her. He quickly assessed how much damage the explosion had caused. She looked mostly unharmed, apart from a long sharp piece of gravel sticking out of her calf.

"You tried to kill me!" she said angrily

"Of course." Nawaki replied "We're shinobi, aren't we?"

With one hand he kept a firm grip on her arm, twisting it around so that the pointed tip of the kunai was now facing her. He extended his other arm out, palm open.

"Universal Pull." he said.

She vanished.

He growled once, looking around. Where had she gone? He hadn't seen her throw any kunai, and she wasn't behind him. Had she marked the whole area before he got here? No. She didn't have enough chakra to do that. So how had she escaped? And where had she gone?

!

Hisa struggled to swim upwards as the water churned around her. For a second there, she had honestly thought Nawaki was going to kill her. Had he really changed that much? She couldn't afford to think about it now. She needed air.

Her head broke the surface of the water and she gasped, letting the air fill her lungs. It should take Nawaki a minute or so to figure out what had happened. Hisa herself hadn't planned to use the kunai that had slipped off her finger. She was just lucky that it was one of the ones she had filled with chakra before the fight.

She pushed herself to her knees on the surface of the water. Suddenly, she heard a small splash. Nawaki stood in front of her, smirking.

She was starting to hate his smirk, although seeing as she mocked him all the time it wasn't really fair of her to hate him for doing the same. It was more about the fact that Nawaki wasn't the kind of person to deliberately humiliate an opponent. Everything that she knew about Nawaki was different from the boy standing in front of her.

He threw two kunai which she easily dodged. She was surprised by his lack of accuracy, until she felt the wire tug around her stomach. She jumped upwards before the wire could wrap around her fully. Reaching into her pocket, she grabbed a handful of special kunai. She threw them, making sure that none of them went into the water. Nawaki didn't seem worried by this.

Hisa wondered how confident he really was. He had tried to hurt her with wire and exploding tags, not his eyes. Was that because he wanted to save his true power for the fight with Sasuke, or because some part of him was still reluctant to hurt her badly? Either way, he was dangerous in his current mental state. She needed to treat him like any other threat to the village.

An idea came to her then. She ran onto the marshy land between the river and the woods. Nawaki followed, still smirking. Hisa found herself grinning back. This plan had been used so many times before, and was so cliché, that it might actually work.

She fished an ordinary kunai from her pocket and held it in front of her. She started running straight at Nawaki. He seemed amused that she was attacking him with nothing but a kunai. She watched as his hand opened up and revealed a canon. _He's using the Asura Path. _Hisa realised.

She kept running at him, even as the canon filled up with explosive chakra. _Wait for it. Wait for it._

Just as he was about to fire, she disappeared. Using the same jutsu as both her father and grandfather had once done, she appeared directly above Nawaki's back.

_A Rasengan would make this perfect. _she thought. Sadly, she couldn't do a Rasengan, so she would have to use her own signature move.

"Almighty Push!"

The wave of chakra slammed into Nawaki's back, shoving him down into the dirt. He smashed into the ground and lay there, twitching slightly.

_Round one goes to Hisa Uzumaki. _Hisa thought with a smile.


	53. Chapter 53

Nawaki groaned into the mud. He flexed his fingers and found that he could move his hands without pain. The rest of his body however, was a different story. He was struggling to breathe, and each forced breath caused a jagged pain in his abdomen. He had a feeling that he had cracked a rib or two. As well as that, his legs were badly bruised, but he could stand the pain of moving them. His head felt numb, which was never a good sign.

He needed to assess his injuries properly. He could push himself to his feet, but Hisa was right behind him and could easily slam him back down. He needed to hide for a few minutes.

He quickly substituted himself with a log, although it caused the pain in his torso to get worse. Panting, he sat behind a tree, hoping that Hisa couldn't hear him.

What was he doing? Hadn't he believed that he could win this easily? Why was he running and hiding? She caught him by surprise, but he wouldn't leave himself open like that again.

He jumped onto a tree branch and looked down at Hisa. She noticed him and scowled.

"I underestimated you." he said "This time I won't give you any cha-"

Suddenly she was right in front of him.

"Shut up." she said calmly.

The next thing he knew, he was being smashed through tree after tree. His chest was in agony, and he couldn't help screaming. Hisa kept a firm grip on his neck, slamming him faster and faster into the trees. He finally hit a sturdy oak and crashed down onto the forest floor. Hisa landed gracefully beside him.

"Last chance to consider that therapy." she informed him.

He just snarled at her. She had thrown special kunai all over the place, so there was no point attacking her here. He needed to find a place where she couldn't throw them. _The river._

He was up and running, running as fast as he could back to the statues. She kept up with him of course, a look of half amusement half pity on her face. That made him even angrier. One thing he didn't want from Hisa was pity, not after she had mocked him and his cause.

When she saw that they were nearing the edge of the river Nawaki knew she would take action. What surprised him was _how _she took action. She disconnected her hand from her wrist, pulling out a thin cord with missiles attached to it. The missiles all honed in on Nawaki, and even using the Almighty Push a few got through. It was only thanks to the Sharingan that he managed to dodge them.

He stood there, breathing heavily, watching as Hisa reconnected her arm.

"You opened the Asura Path." he said.

She nodded.

"Not just the Asura Path, the Human and the Nakara Path too."

"Why?" Nawaki asked "I thought you decided that you never wanted to use them."

"To fight you." she explained "You have all Six Paths activated. I needed them activated too to keep up with you."

"I see." he said.

As much as he wanted to fight, there was another thing bugging him that he couldn't fully ignore.

"You asked me why I wanted to fight you and I explained, so now I will ask you: Why do you want to fight me? Why did you come out here alone when the whole village is prepared for my attack?"

She seemed to mull it over for a minute, before finally speaking.

"I could say it's because it's our fate, but I don't really believe in that." she said "I could say it's because you were my first real friend, but that would be a lie. Oki was my first real friend, and although you were my teammate and my friend I'm not here to save you from yourself or from the darkness or whatever."

_Were. _She had referred to him in the past tense. It made sense, he supposed, that she didn't consider him a friend anymore.

"I could say that it's because you're attacking Konoha, and that would be partly true, but it's not the main reason." she shrugged. "The truth is simply that I enjoy kicking your ass. That's why I'm here."

Nawaki frowned. He knew that he had changed, but it seemed to him that so had Hisa. She had always enjoyed toying with enemies that she knew couldn't beat her, but she never acted like that when fighting with Nawaki. She had either been half-hearted and bored, or intense and serious. She had never been so… light. It unnerved him slightly, to see her like this.

"What happened to you Hisa?" he asked "Where did all that seriousness about proving yourself go?"

She seemed to think about that for a second. Then her face broke into an unsettling grin.

"Do you know what Nawaki? It was your death that caused this change. It made me realise what was really important. My friends and my family are important. They are the ones I'm trying to get respect from. But strangers and people who I don't even _like_? Why should I try and prove myself to them?"

"What category do I fit into?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Normally, you'd be in the friends and family category." she informed him. "But today, you're both a stranger and someone I don't like."

He had no reply to that.

She had let her guard down slightly during all this talk, but in his injured state Nawaki knew that he shouldn't attack here. Instead, he ran as quickly as he could towards the Madara statue. Hisa followed behind him, but with his back turned he couldn't see her expression.

He reached the top of the Madara statue and heard her land on the Hashirama one, struggling to catch her breath. It was exactly like a few minutes ago, except Nawaki was hurt and more cautious.

He realised now that it had been a mistake to engage her in a fight. He had been far too overconfident, and had paid the price. Sasuke was the priority; the best thing to do here was to leave.

He took one step forward, and that's when Hisa spoke.

"Running away after all that talk? Well, aren't you a coward. You think you can beat Sasuke if you can't even fight me?"

He gritted his teeth. It was annoying how she'd known exactly what he was planning to do. It gave her yet another advantage. Nonetheless, she had a point. He needed to beat her before getting to Sasuke.

He turned back around, his Rinnegan flashing. She countered him perfectly, the two Almighty Pushes meeting in mid-air. Neither could beat the other, but Hisa didn't seem worried about this at all. In fact, she seemed downright cheerful. _And she thinks _I _need mental help?_

"It's funny isn't it?" she commented "If I had told anyone a few years-no, months- ago that I'd be defending the village against Nawaki Hachino they would have told me I'm crazy. You were always that nice orphan boy and I was always the bratty Hokage's kid with too much power. Who would have thought that I'd be the good and you'd be the evil? Most people would have predicted that this would be the other way round."

"There is no good or evil." Nawaki repeated "Only winners and losers."

Hisa just shrugged.

"Seeing as I'm going to win, it's the same thing isn't it?"

He maintained his cold expression. If she was going to act immature then he would just ignore it.

"I'm done messing around here." he informed her "Either you start acting serious or-"

She barrelled into him, knocking him over and pinning him down. He glared up at her in annoyance. Couldn't she let him finish the sentence? And how was she still catching him by surprise? He noticed that she was careful to avoid looking at his sharingan. He had the advantage when it came to genjutsu. However, seeing as she was sitting on top of him, it was safe to say she held the advantage in the current situation. He needed to get her off him before she could do some serious damage.

He focused on his fiery chakra, letting it fill up his lungs. He couldn't make a fireball without the hand-seals, but he could breathe out some fire-infused chakra. It blasted straight into Hisa's face, the heat making her flinch backwards. It was all Nawaki needed to push himself upwards and shove her off.

He jumped to his feet just as she swung her sword. He grabbed a kunai from his pocked and used it to block the blade. Her free hand reached towards his stomach and he could feel his chakra pooling there, ready to be sucked out. He jerked backwards and the kunai slipped slightly. Hisa pushed down harder on the blade, her other hand still groping for Nawaki's chakra.

He jumped upwards and snapped both his legs outwards, catching her in the stomach. She flew backwards, tumbling a few times before pushing back onto her feet. He didn't give her time to recover. Using her own style against her, he ran in close until he was right in front of her, his hand inches from her face.

"Almighty Push." he said.

She shot across the waterfall, flipping through the air before crashing into the Hashirama statue. Once again, she recovered quickly, climbing upwards until she was directly across from Nawaki.

He quickly made a clone, and started pooling chakra into his hand. He needed to finish this quickly, so the Rasengan would have to do. Hisa seemed to be thinking along the same lines. Her eyes were closed, and she was muttering a string of words too low for Nawaki to hear. His guess was that she was going to do an Almighty Push.

He kept his right hand behind his back, and held the Rasengan in his left hand. There was some strange rippling chakra forming around Hisa's right hand. She noticed him staring at it and grinned.

"A new technique I invented." she explained "A mixture of the Almighty Push and the Heavenly Pull. The pull keeps it in my hand, but the minute it makes contact with something it'll explode outwards. Would you like me to push it into your face or your stomach?"

He ignored her. His Rasengan fully formed, he let the clone vanish, before charging at her. She mirrored him, jumping off the statue the same time that he did. Their jutsu met in the middle. Nawaki gritted his teeth and pushed, but it was clear that Hisa's jutsu was slightly stronger. Luckily, he had been prepared for that.

He saw her eyes widen as he swung his right hand around. The second Rasengan that he had been hiding behind his back slammed into her ribcage from the side. She screamed as she was flung down the waterfall. Nawaki raced after her, determined not to give her any chance to recover.

She hit the water, but to his surprise she didn't come up. He looked around and noticed her laying against a tree on the river bank next to one if her special kunai. Her chunin jacket and ANBU uniform were torn, and the skin beneath it was raw. The jacket seemed to have protected her from the worst of the Rasengan, but she was still badly injured.

He walked over to her, smirking slightly. She glared up at him, her face contorted in pain.

"You were saying something about winning?" he jeered.

Suddenly, her hand flicked out. His sharingan watched the senbon come close to him, and calculated how to easily dodge them. But to his surprise, she made another hand seal and the number of senbon tripled. Caught off guard, he managed to dodge most of them, but he could still feel one or two prick his skin.

"Senbon Shadow Clone Jutsu." Hisa whispered, a triumphant smile on her face.

Nawaki didn't know what she was smiling about, until his vision started to grow fuzzy.

"You used poisoned senbon." he managed to get out, before falling onto his knees.

She nodded, struggling to push herself to her feet.

"The poison isn't strong enough to kill you, but it's enough to knock you out for a few hours. Enough time for me to drag you back to Konoha."

He expected her to leave it at that, but she was staring down at him curiously. Something seemed to be nagging her, and as Nawaki couldn't seem to work his legs anymore, he had no choice but to wait for her to spit it out.

"How do you have the Mangekyo?" she asked "I don't have it, and one of my eyes is yours."

"The Mangekyo is something you get from the trauma and guilt of watching a loved one die." Nawaki said. "You may have my eye, but you didn't see Sasuke stab Sakura and even if you did it wouldn't have affected you the same way."

"Ah," she nodded "But that still doesn't explain why you have it."

"Because I watched my mother die!" he yelled, confused as to why she wasn't getting this.

Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to say something, but Nawaki didn't want to hear it. Her guard was almost down, and although his hands seemed to have gone numb he could still feel the chakra flowing into his eyes. All he needed to do was stun her for a single second.

"I'm secretly gay for your brother." he said.

Her eyes widened for a spilt second and Nawaki struck. His left eye spun as the Mangekyo came out. His eye met Hisa's and the genjutsu began taking effect. He pushed all his chakra into it, but he knew it wasn't enough for a full Tsukuyomi. The blood began running out of his eye, but he kept pushing his chakra. Hopefully, it would be enough to knock her out for a few hours.

"You fight dirty." she muttered as she fell to her knees.

"I do what I have to." he tried to shrug but his shoulders wouldn't move. "But if it helps, that was a complete lie. I still have feelings for Oki, but they've been pushed aside until I can avenge my mother."

She glared at him, looking annoyed. He could understand anger or pity, but annoyance was strange.

"You're an idiot." she informed him, her words slurring. "You seriously don't know _anything._"

"What, why would you say that?" he forced his jaw and tongue to work.

She tried to talk, but the genjutsu had taken effect. She gave him one last look, as if to say _Oh Nawaki, you simple, simple fool._

Then she collapsed face first into the dirt.

He felt a familiar chakra signature coming towards them, but he couldn't tell if it was friend or foe. There was nothing he could do anyway, seeing as his world had started to fade and his vision was growing black.

Strangely enough, his last thought was of Oki.

Then he fell forward and joined Hisa in the dirt.


	54. Chapter 54

**A/N Firstly, I'm going on holidays to a place with no internet access, so I won't be able to update for a few weeks. However, I'll probably have more than one chapter ready to post when I get back.**

**Secondly, if you watch the English Dub of Naruto, 'Kai' means 'release' and is used by shinobi to break out of genjutsu.**

**Thirdly, if anyone can come up with a name for Hisa's new jutsu (The mixture of Almighty Push and Heavenly Pull), please do leave it in a review.**

**Lastly, thanks for over 100 reviews! I started laughing like a maniac when I realised that it was over 100. Thanks to all the reviewers!**

When Nawaki woke up he was being carried through the trees on someone's back. A look at the person's head confirmed that it was Obito. Nawaki tried to speak, but all that came out was a cough.

"The poison hasn't left your system completely." Obito informed him, his head still facing forwards.

Nawaki swallowed once and tried again. This time, he managed to speak, although his words were slurred.

"Did… anyone else… come?" he rasped.

"No." Obito replied. "I scanned the area before leaving. You and Hisa were the only two near other than me. Congratulations, by the way. That was quite good for your first attempt at the Tsukuyomi."

Nawaki slowly began to notice his surroundings. There wasn't much to take in, just a lot of trees and wind as they jumped. He kept his rinnegan eye closed and his sharingan deactivated, not wanting to waste anymore chakra.

"Are we still going towards Konoha?" he asked, forced to whisper as his throat was completely dry.

"Yes." Obito said calmly. "Seeing as you won that fight I'd say you're ready to face Sasuke. You'll have time to rest on the way."

"What are you talking about?" Nawaki whispered "I didn't win back there. If I hadn't used the Mangekyo Hisa would have won, and as it is we both fell unconscious."

"What would you call it then?" Obito asked, slightly irritated.

"A draw." Nawaki said quietly.

Obito was silent for a while. Nawaki watched the trees fly past, still too numb to think deeply.

"Do you want to continue on with the plan?" Obito asked "Keep in mind that Hisa is still alive, and if we quit now she'll make her way back to the village and inform them of our intentions. They would be prepared and we would no longer have any chance of surprising them. But it's your decision, so if you're not ready you're not ready."

Nawaki sighed. When Obito put it like that, there was really only one answer.

"I'm ready." he said firmly. "I'm ready to kill Sasuke."

!

_It was a genjutsu, that much Hisa knew. But it was an extremely strong one, as none of her attempts to break out had worked. She didn't know where she was, or how long she had been trying, all she knew was that she needed to escape._

_Was this the Tsukuyomi? She hoped not. She couldn't afford to be trapped here for longer than a few hours. Her poison would wear off, and Nawaki would escape. But as she tried to look around her, all she saw was white. She wasn't even sure if she was standing or floating. She was just… there. _

_What kind of genjutsu was this? The only unbreakable genjutsu that Hisa knew about was the Tsukuyomi, but wasn't it supposed to torture you somehow? This didn't feel like torture. It didn't really feel like anything._

_Suddenly, her surroundings began to change. She cursed herself for jinxing it, before looking around. The light was fading, and she could make out vague shapes and colours. It looked like… Konoha?_

_Why was she in Konoha? What was going on? Kakashi had once told her about Itachi's Tsukuyomi. He had been tied on a cross and stabbed over and over again. But unlike Itachi, she was sure that Nawaki wasn't controlling this. Her poisoned senbon should have knocked him out, so whatever he had done he couldn't control. He wasn't in charge of what happened in the genjutsu, but neither was she. So what was going to happen to her?_

_The white light had gone completely, and as she looked around it became clear that she was in the centre of Konoha. For some reason, she felt uneasy, even though nothing had gone wrong yet. She could feel her body in the genjutsu, but it wouldn't move. The only thing she had control over was her mind, but even parts of it seemed to be blocked, seeing as she couldn't escape._

_She noticed people around her. Civilians that she vaguely knew were staring at her, looking absolutely terrified. She wondered why. Was there something behind her?_

_She found herself turning in a circle. All around her, people stared fearfully at her. Most of them she didn't recognise, but a few stood out. Oki, Obito (her brother, not the Uchiha) Kawa, Hinata and worst of all: Naruto. He looked shocked, angry and disappointed. Why was he looking at her like that?_

_She suddenly realised something. Her sharingan was gone. She couldn't see her eye, but the chakra felt like her old rinnegan. How was it back? Where was Nawaki?_

_Her senses were coming back. First her sight, then her sense of smell and taste. She was shocked when her hearing came back. Everyone was screaming at each other to stay back, to keep away from… her? Her sense of touch came back and she realised that her feet weren't touching the ground. How was she floating? She knew that the Deva Path could give you the ability, but she had never learnt it._

_She flew up higher and higher, her eyes locked onto Naruto. He looked furious at her, and it scared her. He had never been this angry with her. What was happening?_

_She felt the chakra move through her body, and heard herself speak._

_"Almighty Push."_

_From the centre of the village, the earth began to shake and crumble. Buildings collapsed and were pushed towards the edge of the village. She heard shinobi shouting, and then, much worse: The screams of civilians caught by the jutsu._

Her_ jutsu._

_Inside her mind, she was screaming, but her body merely laughed and watched the village crumble. The screams of the dying melded with her own, but that only made her body laugh harder. She felt herself descending and turning towards the Hokage monument, and terror seized her as she realised what she was going to do._

_"Heavenly Pull."_

_The face of the Third and Fourth Hokage were ripped off, and she watched the rest crumble down. Her sense of hearing seemed to grow stronger, as she heard the children that had already been evacuated scream as their safe room collapsed on them._

Kai, Kai, Kai Kai! Why wouldn't it work? She was pushing chakra into it, and she should be free from any genjutsu by now. Was this really the Tsukuyomi?

_She felt something move behind her. Turning around, she saw Oki lunge at her with her sword, tears in her eyes. Hisa felt her face twist into a sneer._

_"Almighty Push."_

_Oki was slammed all the way down into the ground, where she lay there unmoving, her neck twisted at a grotesque angle while blood leaked out of her head._

Oki! Kai! Kai! No, no this wasn't real. She would never kill Oki!

_Obito and his team were the next to try. The three of them leapt into the air. She felt herself float down to meet them, excited at the thought of killing them all. Her right arm opened up and launched a missile at the three of them. Obito and Kawa managed to dodge, but the missile hit Toruko and exploded, scattering sparks across the sky. When the smoke cleared there was nothing left. Hisa felt herself laugh and clap her hands._

Kai, kai, kai. It seemed that she was trapped here until the genjutsu ran out. She would keep trying to break it though; a last resort to prove that she wasn't really the one destroying her village.

_Obito and Kawa kept coming. As they got closer she noticed that they both looked shocked and fearful, as if they couldn't believe she was really doing this. Hisa couldn't really believe it either, but the genjutsu imitated reality perfectly. It was too strong for Hisa to believe it was fake, even though she still had control over some part of her consciousness._

_Obito was slightly faster to attack, so she disposed of him quickly. As he got close enough to use the Gentle Fist she placed her hand on his chest. With a swift tug she yanked his soul from his body. Her brother's eyes widened in shock. Hisa merely grinned, watching as the light left his eyes and his body fell towards the earth. Kawa tried to lunge at her, but she grabbed his neck and squeezed. She was going to have fun with this one. _

_She felt herself summoning something. Her body seemed to know what she was doing, but her mind was confused. What could she summon without using a summoning jutsu?_

_The King of Hell appeared behind her. The look on Kawa's face made her smile widely. He was staring at her pleadingly, tears running down his cheeks. She watched as his soul was sucked into the King's mouth, leaving an empty shell of a body behind._

Kawa and Obito… Why was she doing this? She couldn't bear to watch this anymore, but her eyes wouldn't close. Kai, kai!

_She heard a noise behind her and turned around. Hinata was lunging at her, her face disappointed yet determined. Hisa dodged the first strike, then she stuck out both her hands on either side of her mother._

_"Heavenly Pull."_

_With a sickening ripping sound, Hinata was torn in two, half of her flying towards each of Hisa's hands. Hisa grabbed the remains of her mother and tossed it down towards the village._

_"HINATA!"_

_She looked down and saw Naruto glaring up at her. His eyes had turned into red slits, and she was taken aback by the amount of hatred her own father was directing towards her._

KAI! KAI! KAI! She was no longer worrying about controlling her chakra. Instead, she was pushing as much as she could into each attempt to break the genjutsu. However, it seemed as if she was no closer to escaping then she had been at the start. If the genjutsu was weakening, it didn't show it.

_She felt the need to get out of here before the other villages sent back-up, but she couldn't leave enough for them to rebuild. Cupping her hands together, it only took her seconds to form the small orb of black light._

_"Planetary Devastation." she said calmly._

_She kept her eyes on Naruto as she made the orb hover above the remains of Konoha. Her eyes stayed locked on his, even as she flew away. Eventually, she lost sight of him. She knew he would have followed her, which was why the orb was necessary. She knew that he would survive, but hopefully he would only be able to save a dozen or so. Sasuke would probably be amongst the survivors, but Hisa didn't really care about him._

Kai, kai, kai… She was almost out of chakra and she hadn't made any progress. Soon she wouldn't be able to try anymore. It seemed like the genjutsu was winning. From the very start it had been in control of her body, but it also seemed to be taking over her thoughts and feelings. Soon, all she would have left would be this small bit of consciousness.

_It went on and on. She travelled from village to village, destroying everything in her wake. When she reached Suna, she fought both Naruko and Gaara. To her surprise, they fought well together. It was strange. Naruko was nowhere near as bloodthirsty as Hisa remembered. She was more like the old Hisa, the one who had been too scared to use her full power._

_It felt like it went on for days, but in reality it was probably only a few hours. Either way, she could sense it coming to a close. She had destroyed the five great villages, and ravaged the rest of the lands. There was only one great challenge left._

_They came for her, and she let herself be found. Next to a small river in the earth kingdom, Naruto and Sasuke attacked._

_No matter what jutsu she threw at them, they kept coming back. She started to grow irritated. Naruto was the one she wanted to fight and kill; she needed to keep Sasuke occupied elsewhere._

_She made a planetary devastation, and threw it as far as she could. Just as she predicted, Sasuke shot off to destroy it, leaving Naruto to fight Hisa._

She knew it was almost over, and she had a terrible feeling about how it was going to end. She desperately hoped that Naruto would kill her. Otherwise… she didn't want to think about it.

_Naruto closed his eyes, and when he opened them they were amber coloured. Hisa was forced to backpedal as he attacked her with all the power of Sage mode. She focused all her chakra into an orb and sent it into the sky. Naruto came at her with a flurry of kicks and punches, too quick for her eyes to follow. He swept her feet out from under her, and knelt on her legs, pinning her to the ground. _

Yes, yes. Kill me, please. Please end it. Please…

_He looked down at her with such sad eyes, and Hisa knew that he was going to end this. She couldn't let that happen._

_She raised one hand into the sky and smirked at Naruto. _

_"Heavenly Pull."_

_The orbs that she had thrown had grown until they were big enough to crush a small army. Off to the side, she noticed Sasuke still trying to destroy the first orb. The second one however, was right in the range of her pull. It shot down towards her and Naruto. Naruto jumped off her immediately, but there wasn't time for him to run. Hisa watched calmly, timing the seconds until she could use her push._

_Just as the boulder was about to hit, she raised her hands and used her Almighty Push. The boulder smashed into the ground around her, but not one bit hit her._

_"Rasen-Shuriken!"_

_She sighed. He was still alive then._

_Naruto stood with his clones amidst the falling debris, swinging a Rasen-Shuriken around his head in a circle. Like Hisa, not one shard of rock hit him._

_She aimed an Almighty Push at him, and it hit him right in his stomach. He flew backwards, his clones and Rasen-Shuriken disappearing. She knew that his time in Sage mode was almost up, which meant the next thing he would use would be the Kyubi's chakra. She couldn't let it get to that stage._

_She used the Body Flicker to get behind him, and then she drew her sword from her back. Her father's head snapped around, his eyes wide._

No, that's impossible. Naruto would have been able to block her! Why wasn't he blocking her?

_With a single blow, she severed his head from his body. For a second, it looked like he would continue fighting, but even the Kyubi couldn't keep him alive without his head. His body slumped to the ground, defeated at last. _

Impossible…

_She turned and saw Sasuke's Susanoo struggling to escape the first orb. The orb was gathering a ton of earth per minute, and it was clear that the Susanoo was being hard pressed to keep all the rocks from crushing it._

This couldn't be real…

_Hisa turned around and picked up her father's head. His eyes, always so bright and brimming with life, were dull and clouded now. She tossed his head into the river. Funny that the great Naruto Uzumaki would end up as fish food._

NO! She pushed the last ounces of her chakra through her body, letting it out in one giant burst.

_Her hands were reaching up towards her head, and for the first time since entering the genjutsu, Hisa was in control of her body. She wasn't going to watch herself kill or destroy anything else. She gently placed her hands over her eye sockets, feeling the edges of the purple eyes that could do so much damage._

_Then she ripped them out of her head._

Kai.

The genjutsu broke, and Hisa collapsed onto the dirt. Dimly, she was aware of someone standing over Nawaki. It was probably Obito, which meant she should get up and fight, but her body wouldn't move. Despite not being a full Tsukuyomi, the genjutsu had shocked her to the core. It may have only been a few seconds in reality, but to her she had been trapped for at least a day. She didn't want to live or breathe or _think _anymore. She just wanted to escape from the things she'd done in there.

So she closed her eyes and let the darkness overwhelm her.

!

Obito came to a stop at a seemingly random point, bringing back nostalgic memories for Nawaki of his first time entering Konoha. Of course, those memories were now tinged with pain, seeing as this time there was no Sakura, and Sakura would never be here again.

"Once we pass the barrier they'll know it's us." Obito said, lifting the scroll off his back. "You head straight towards the police station, while I'll create a distraction in the centre of Konoha."

"How will you create one big enough for a long enough time?" Nawaki asked, wishing that he had thought to ask these questions earlier.

Obito jumped onto the next tree, and then down into the grass. Nawaki followed him, on his guard in case Obito was leading him into a trap.

"They know we're here now." Nawaki said.

Obito's sharingan eye gleamed.

"They don't know about all of us."

He unrolled the scroll, which looked to Nawaki like some kind of weapon summoning jutsu. Obito bit down on his thumbs, drawing blood. He smeared the blood across the scroll, and slammed his hands down.

"Summoning jutsu!"

When the smoke cleared, Nawaki was shocked to see six dead bodies lying on the scroll. Each one of the bodies had metal rods sticking out of them. Obito made a hand-sign, and the six bodies opened their eyes and stood up, causing Nawaki to jump slightly. Each of the bodies had a Rinnegan and a Sharingan that matched Obito's own.

Nawaki's eyes zeroed in on the third body. The young man had a very close resemblance to both Hinata and Hisa's brother. No, it couldn't be…

"How did you get these?" Nawaki asked.

"It's not so hard if you know where to look." Obito replied "Kabuto only took a DNA sample, but he left his records behind, so I knew where to find the bodies."

Nawaki continued to stare at the bodies. One of them was a young female looking boy, while the other was a tanned man with a bandage  
around his lower face. The third looked like a Hyuga while the fourth was an old lady, and the fifth was a young woman with blue hair.

But it was the sixth that caught Nawaki's attention above all the others. It was a young man, with black hair and a serious looking face. The man looked quite like Sasuke, but he was almost identical to Nawaki, apart from the lines on his face. To Nawaki, it looked like he was seeing his future self

"Allow me to introduce you to my six paths." Obito said. "Their names are Haku, Zabuza, Neji Hyuga, Chiyo, Konan and Itachi Uchiha."


	55. Chapter 55

**A/N I'm still on holidays so I probably won't update for another week. Thanks to all the reviewers and to all the readers who are patient enough to wait for updates.**

Back when they were younger, Konohamaru had given them lessons on genjutsu. One of the things he had talked about was the aftereffect. Powerful genjutsu could stick in your mind, even after they were dispelled. Hisa had never fully understood what he meant until now.

The darkness wasn't the pleasant emptiness she had wished for. Instead, images of the worst moments of the genjutsu replayed themselves over and over again in her mind. Oki's mangled body, Obito's dead eyes and Kawa's soul being sucked into hell, Tearing Hinata in two and chopping Naruto's head off over and over again.

It was almost a relief when she woke up, until she started to panic. If she was awake, then what was stopping her from destroying everything? She was so distressed she didn't even notice the chakra waves pulsing from her body and the trees around her snapping.

Then her real memories started coming back: Coming here to fight, fighting Nawaki, and the genjutsu. Nawaki! What happened to him? She looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen. Obito had probably rescued him. He was probably on his way to destroy Konoha. Too bad she had already done that.

She destroyed Konoha! Had she really done that? She couldn't be sure.

She scrambled over to the river as fast as she could. Every move made her want to throw up, but she kept at it. When she reached the edge, she looked into the water and opened her right eye. Nawaki's sharingan stared back at her.

She sighed in relief, feeling her body relax. They were all alive. It was only an illusion; she hadn't really done those things. She never thought she would be so happy to have the Sharingan.

Flopping back against the muddy river bank, she considered what to do next. Konoha was in danger, and she needed to get back as soon as possible. But she was in no condition to move anywhere just yet. Even now, the idea of blinding her rinnegan eye was very tempting.

Physically, she was exhausted, so running towards a huge fight straight away wouldn't be the smartest thing. But mentally, she needed to get to Konoha, just to reassure herself that she would defend it, not destroy it.

She struggled to her feet, fighting the urge to vomit. Once she was up, she swayed unsteadily for a few seconds, until she found her balance. After that, it was simply a matter of putting one foot in front of the other.

Slowly and unsteadily, Hisa began to walk.

_Chasing Nawaki again, _she thought _why am I still chasing him? Ever since that fight in the forest, it feels like we're in a never-ending race._

_Then you know what you should do?_

_Stop talking to myself?_

_When you reach Konoha, don't let him escape again. End it._

_Easier said than done._

She shook her head, which sent her spinning into a tree. Once she got back on her feet, she started to jog. Nawaki and Obito had a few hours head start, which meant that she would need to pick up the pace.

After another ten minutes of crashing into trees and collapsing, Hisa decided that she needed a new strategy. Speed was the most important thing here. She needed to catch up with them as quickly as she could, but she was in no condition to walk, never mind tree-jump.

An idea came to her then. One that could possibly kill her and most likely traumatise her, but if it worked she would be back in Konoha in under an hour.

_Think back. _she told herself _Remember the genjutsu. _

_Killing Oki. Destroying Toruko. Ripping Hinata in two. Chopping Naruto's head off-_

_NO! _

_Just think of the very beginning. When you started to fly, how did you do that?_

She remembered the pathways in her body she had pushed her chakra through in the genjutsu, and she mirrored it as best she could in reality. Unfortunately, the genjutsu had made it look effortless. In reality, it was a lot harder.

"Almighty Push!"

She shot ten feet into the air, disturbing a flock of birds and screaming as she went.

!

Nawaki was still in shock. The fact that he was jumping through the trees next to his dead uncle had not quite managed to sink in yet. Obito led the group, and Nawaki could almost feel the anticipation rolling off him. At least someone was going to enjoy this.

Nawaki knew from Sakura's stories that all of these people were significant to Naruto, and a few of them were significant to a lot of other villagers. Something about this didn't feel right to Nawaki. Okay, so _a lot _of things that he had done recently didn't feel right, but using dead bodies to physiologically torment Naruto seemed worse than playing dirty. It felt despicable.

He tried to voice those thoughts, but Obito ignored him. Nawaki sensed that Obito wasn't happy with his constant hesitation, but he couldn't help it. Half of him wasn't sure if killing Sasuke was what he wanted at all. But the other half was fixated on his mother's death, and the furious desire to avenge her was what motivated him to follow Obito.

Obito and the bodies came to a stop. Nawaki wasn't quite quick enough, and ended up bumping into Itachi's back. It made him shudder slightly.

"Here is where we part." Obito announced. "I will go directly towards the village, and attack the centre and the areas furthest from the police station. The Uchiha district is at the edge of the village, and that's probably where Sasuke will be. If he's not there…" he trailed off, but his eyes flickered to Itachi. "I'll find him and persuade him to go."

Nawaki didn't want to hear any more. He took off towards the Uchiha district as quickly as he could.

!

It happened so quickly. One second everyone was going around doing their daily business. The next, two buildings had exploded and dust clouds were flying everywhere. People screamed as the ground trembled and the debris flew at them. One child cried out for her daddy, but soon she could no longer be heard over the sound of explosions and collapsing buildings.

In the centre of the village Naruto and Hinata stood on top of the Hokage building, staring out at the destruction. Hinata's Byakugan was activated, and she was giving instructions through a headpiece. Naruto's eyes were open but glazed. Hinata didn't panic. She knew from experience that he was communicating with Kurama.

Naruto's eyes sharpened and he put his hands together in a hand-seal.

"Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A thousand clones, each of them covered in a cloak of Kyubi chakra, flew off the Hokage building. They ran straight towards the dust and the screams, doing their best to stop the buildings from collapsing and dragging the villagers to safety.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked determinedly out at the village. Hinata gave a small smile. That was the expression of the man who would face the Ten-tails with no chakra, who would fight anyone who touched his precious people.

"Is Sasuke in position?"

Hinata nodded.

"He's leaving the Uchiha district right now. He should be here to help in a few minutes."

She paused to listen to her earpiece.

"We've sighted the intruders. Seven people, one confirmed as Obito, none confirmed as Nawaki."

"Do we know what the situation is between Nawaki and Hisa?"

"No information so far. Konohamaru reached the Valley of the End five minutes ago, but no one was there."

She noticed Naruto shaking slightly and took his hand.

"Obito… We named our son after that him Hinata. _Our son. _That bastard… I THOUGHT HE HAD CHANGED! I BELIEVED IN HIM!"

She squeezed his hand tightly, gazing out at the village. With her Byakugan, she could see the chakra of Konoha shinobi as they went up against the enemy. Something strange caught her attention: a familiar chakra signature, one that she hadn't seen in years. _Neji! Could it be? No, that's impossible._

She lost sight of the chakra signature amidst the fighting, and after scanning the rest of the village, she turned back to Naruto. He had created another thousand clones, who were all sitting down, as motionless as statues. The real Naruto stood in the centre of them, his eyes closed.

"I'm going into Sage Mode." he said. "Guard me until I'm ready."

She nodded, turning around until she was facing Konoha. Her eyes looked all around the village, making sure that nothing was approaching from any angle.

After about two minutes, she noticed a strange warped chakra appearing behind Naruto.

"Naruto." she said. "He's here."

Some of the clones were getting up, but they all seemed to have jobs. They jumped off the building, following the trail left by the first batch of clones. None seemed to care about the man appearing behind their creator, or maybe Naruto had ordered them to ignore him.

He hadn't told Hinata anything of the sort. She rushed over and got into the Gentle Fist fighting stance, waiting for the man to fully appear. Naruto was motionless and silent behind her, but she knew exactly what he needed her to do.

The man materialized fully, and Hinata lunged. The man sidestepped her blow, looking at her as if she was an interesting scientific specimen.

"Hinata Hyuga." he drawled, and she knew that it was definitely Obito Uchiha.

"Why are you doing this Obito?" she asked "Why now and why Nawaki?"

"Nawaki? I don't see him destroying the village, so why would you think he's involved?"

"We know you have him." she said, annoyed at all the posturing "What are you planning?"

"You're an interesting woman Hinata Hyuga." he said, as if she hadn't said anything at all. "Intelligent, very intelligent, and from a very young age. You saw in Naruto Uzumaki what no one else could, and you kept at it, even when he seemed like a hopeless case."

She eyed him coldly, waiting for an opportunity to strike. He continued talking, while behind her Naruto was still motionless.

"It took years, but eventually your time came. You saved him, and confessed your love for him. Soon after that he became the village hero. You helped him again during the war, and he was the main hero of that. Now look at you! Wife of the Hokage, head of the Hyuga Clan, yes, you were very perceptive indeed."

His chakra points were still translucent, so she knew that if she struck him it would be pointless, and she would endanger herself. He seemed content to stand and talk which made her wonder: Who was destroying the village if he was here? Was he even in charge of the attack? Or had he been sent here to keep Naruto distracted?

"But now, I'm curious." he said "As powerful as Naruto is, his time is up. I could kill both of you in an instant, and I'm sure you know that. He's used up most of his chakra protecting the weak villagers, and as talented as you are, you're eyes are no match for mine. So now I wonder, why do you still protect him?"

She stared at him in disbelief.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." he said, his voice so oily she snarled slightly. "Why do you stand by him when you know he has no chance? Surely someone like you would understand that the only way to survive is to join me. I cannot understand why you would stand by a doomed man."

"Because I love him." she stated, her voice so cold that he shifted backwards. "You don't seem to understand. I always believed in Naruto, but I don't love him because of his power or his status. I love him because he is Naruto, and even if he never became more than a genin, I would still love him. I love that he never gives up, that he loves this village, even after the cruelty that he experienced as a child. I love that he calls my father 'Old Man Hyuga' with no fear of what the nobles think. I love that he treats everyone with kindness, and he doesn't care that people think he's a fool, because he _knows _that one day they will be friends with him. I love him for so many reasons, but the high-profile life is not one of them. Naruto doesn't care about being rich, or being able to order people around, and neither do I. We care about being strong, yes, but only so that we can protect our village, and the people that we love."

"I see." Obito said, almost sadly. "Either you still believe he can win, or you truly mean what you say. Either way, it seems I overestimated you. You are content to die fighting me if it'll mean saving Naruto?"

Hinata smiled

"Yes."

"Very well then."

Her eyes followed him, but she still wasn't quick enough to react properly. He solidified a second before her hand touched him, his own hand reaching towards her heart with a kunai. She saw that the kunai would hit her heart before she had time to block him, but she tried anyway.

Another hand clamped down on his, stopping the kunai from stabbing her. Obito let his hand and the kunai fade out of reality, and drew back. Hinata turned around to see who had saved her, and smiled.

Naruto stood there, staring at Obito with amber eyes.

"She won't fight you alone."

!

Once she had stopped plummeting to her death, Hisa had started to get the hang of flying. As long as she descended before the push ran out, she could land relatively softly, and could take off again. It had only taken twelve pushes, to reach the outer wall of Konoha. She stood, watching the destruction, hearing the screams. Memories of the genjutsu flashed before her eyes, until she wasn't sure what was the real destruction and what was the genjutsu aftereffect.

_Great, now I have PTSD. Thanks Nawaki._

Her chakra had started coming back ever since she woke up, and even all the Almighty Pushes didn't seem to affect it that much. She certainly had enough for one good fight, hopefully more.

Pushing off from the wall, she flew unsteadily through the village, looking for the biggest fight.

!

"Ah," Obito said, with a gleam in his eye. "Right on time. Just what you would expect from Naruto Uzumaki."

"Once we get you in a jail cell and suck all your chakra out I'm sure you won't mind if I ask why you're doing this."

"Not at all."

"Good. Now we'll just kick your ass and take you to that cell."

Naruto lunged, but seemed to miss. Obito struck, but suddenly Hianta yelled "Now!" and Naruto's fist struck his cheek, Obito fell backwards, tumbling to the ground.

"I see." he said, climbing back on his feet. "I didn't want to resort to this, but fighting you in Sage Mode was not what I planned."

Naruto heard a gasp from behind him. Turning around, he saw a figure approaching Hinata. The figure wasn't moving fast, and Naruto waited for Hinata to strike it down. To his surprise, she let it approach. It was only when he saw its face that he realised why.

"N… Neji." Hinata stammered.

Neji attacked, wrapping an arm around Hinata's throat and twisting her body so that it was facing outwards. He put his left hand next to Hinata's head, and to both her and Naruto's surprise, his hand opened up to reveal a cannon.

"What…" was all Naruto could say.

"This is Neji Hyuga, my Asura Path." Obito said, barely hiding his amusement. "I believe you two knew him when he was still alive?"

"You bastard…" Hinata whispered, "You bastard... You bastard! YOU BASTARD!"

She struck Neji with her Gentle Fist wherever she could. It didn't seem to affect him at all, and his arm tightened around her neck, forcing her to stop.

Naruto was frozen, one step away from attacking Obito, who was watching the entire scene with enjoyment.

"I'm afraid your attacks won't work. You see, now that he is the Asura Path, his body is mostly made up of metal. The Gentle Fist is quite useless."

His eyes swivelled to Naruto, who was standing between Hinata and Obito, unsure.

"It appears that we are at a standoff." Obito announced "If you try to attack me Naruto, I will kill Hinata. But if I get closer to you, there's a chance you will be able to hit me. So here's what'll happen. We're all going to wait until your Sage Mode runs out. Then I'll decide whether killing your wife will benefit me or not. If not, I send Neji off to do more damage to the village, and Hinata gets knocked out. Don't you think that's fair Naruto?"

"Naruto." Hinata whispered "Kill him. Please. Don't worry about me, just stop him."

"Hinata…" Naruto's voice was desperate.

"Look what he's done to Neji!" Hinata cried, no longer quiet and calm. "I don't care if I die, as long as he does too! Neji… my cousin-no, my _brother_- he died to save us, and now his body is being used to threaten us! Please, don't worry about me, just kill him."

"I'd advise you to stay quiet." Obito said coldly "You are only valuable to me because Naruto loves you, and won't attack me until I kill you. However, there's nothing to stop me from cutting your fingers or eyes."

Hinata and Naruto glared at him, Hinata coldly and Naruto angrily. But Naruto still didn't move, and time was running out.

!

As she flew over the village, Hisa noticed something happening on the top of the Hokage building. She flew over to it, and using her sharingan she was able to see what was happening. A man who must be Obito Uchiha was standing, talking to Naruto, who was in Sage Mode. Why wasn't Naruto attacking?

She noticed Hinata and a stranger with unusual chakra pathways. Then she noticed the hand around her mother's throat, and the chakra cannon pointing at her head. Rage bubbled inside her at the fact that someone would dare use Hinata against Naruto, and suddenly she was shooting down towards them, her push working to drag her down instead of keeping her floating. She tried to steady herself, but it wasn't working. She was going to crash.

!

"Now then," Obito said, the smirk clear in his voice "How much longer do you have left in Sage Mode? One minute? A few…" He trailed off. "What's that noise?"

"Someone's screaming." Naruto said, looking around the roof.

"It sounds like it's getting closer." Hinata said, also struggling to look around.

"What-" was all Obito managed to say, before something crashed onto the roof, creating a cloud of dust that blocked Hinata and Neji from view.

!

Shinobi bodies differ from normal humans in many ways. Once you learn to use chakra, it naturally enhances your muscles and bones, so if you were a shinobi you could jump off a cliff and only get a few bruises, maybe a broken leg if you weren't careful. Some shinobi, like Tsunade, have huge amounts of natural chakra–enhanced strength. Others, like Sakura Haruno, learnt to get the same strength by controlling and pushing the chakra to certain areas of the body.

Although Hisa didn't have the same amount of chakra control as Sakura, she managed to push as much chakra as she could into her legs and feet. Screaming as she fell, she aimed both her legs at the figure holding Hinata. The chakra in her legs meant that even when she hit Neji with the force of a demolition ball, nothing broke.

Except Neji.

Hinata quickly rotated, creating a chakra shield that blocked the destruction from hitting her. Neji wasn't so lucky. All the gears and cogs in his body were smashed, and he fell broken onto the roof.

From the cloud of dust and metal scrap, Hisa emerged, staggering sideways before getting her balance and eyeballing the three shocked faces in front of her.

"Mom, Dad." she nodded before looking directly at Obito "Asshole-who-corrupted-Nawaki."

"Hisa," Naruto began "What…"

She looked at Naruto, and for one second she was tempted to grab her sword and cut his head off. He was shocked from her arrival, so she might catch him by surprise. Could she do it?

Instead, she reached down and brushed the dirt off her trousers.

"I don't know about you guys," she said, straightening up, "But I thought that was pretty good for a dramatic entrance."


	56. Chapter 56

**A/N Only after I posted the chapter did I notice that the part with Hinata near the end wasn't complete. Sorry to anyone who was confused. I've fixed it now**

Hisa expected Obito to look worried, or even slightly surprised by her arrival. Instead, his sharingan eye gleamed creepily, and although Hisa couldn't see his face, he gave off a pleased air. She stood between her parents, who both had an arm protectively in front of her.

"Hisa Uzumaki. Excellent, we have the whole family. I can nail two birds with one stone." Obito said.

She just had to ask.

"Do you ever get tired of talking to yourself?"

Obito's eyes narrowed, and he took a step towards them. Naruto and Hinata tensed, while Hisa stuck out her hand. But before any of them could make a move, someone interrupted.

"Rotation!"

From behind Obito, a shield of pure chakra reared up and crashed into him. He let it pass through him, but when it was completely through, Hisa noticed a crack in his mask. It seemed he hadn't been completely unharmed. When the chakra dispersed, Hisa could see who had created it.

"Obito!" Hinata gasped

"You mean Good Obito!" Naruto grinned.

Hisa looked back and forth between her brother and the man with the cracked mask. Then she groaned.

"This is going to get confusing."

Obito Hyuga grinned over at his father.

"I heard that we were having a family meeting. Why didn't anyone invite me? I had to find out from Hizashi. He's somewhere downstairs, by the way."

"Obito, Hisa. Get out of here." Hinata said sharply. "Leave this to us."

Hisa's eyes met her brother's, and together, they moved to stand on either side of their parents.

A low chuckle came from across the roof, as Obito Uchiha stared at them all.

"Let them fight. After all, surely jutsu like Amaterasu will come in handy."

Naruto glanced at Hinata in confusion, but she shook her head. He looked back at Obito and opened his mouth, but Hisa got there first.

"Is your eyesight really that bad? We have two frog eyes, four Byakugan, one Rinnegan and one Sharingan. No Mangekyo."

"'Frog eyes'" Naruto muttered "The reason I was able to beat all Six Paths of Pein; just call it 'frog eyes'."

Obito ignored him, frowning at Hisa in confusion.

"You don't have a Mangekyo? How? When Kakashi killed Rin, I got the Mangekyo as well."

"You get the Mangekyo Sharingan when you feel the guilt and trauma of watching a loved one die. You loved Rin, while I never met Sakura, only saw her from a distance. It doesn't matter that my eye was once Nawaki's. There not telepathic or anything. Once Nawaki gave me his eye, my emotions rule when the Mangekyo appears."

"Ah." Obito said, "Well that complicates things. It simply won't do to let Nawaki have the Mangekyo Sharingan and not give you one too."

"What are you saying Obito?" Naruto growled "Don't you want Nawaki to be stronger?"

"I do." he replied calmly "But only if Hisa here can keep up. Judging from how he won the Valley of the End, I'd say she can't."

Hisa eyed him calmly, but on the inside she was starting to worry. If what Obito said was true, than having her entire family here was exactly what he wanted.

"You might want to check your facts again." she said "Nawaki only won because he's gay for my brother."

She ignored the stares from her family, and whispered "Long story."

Obito's eyes flickered from Hinata to the other Obito. Hisa didn't like the look in his eyes. It was like he was debating who to kill first. Then he looked at Naruto, and his eyes smirked. (No, she didn't know how eyes could smirk, but Obito's could.)

From behind Obito, a figure jumped onto the roof. Only when it raced over to Neji's broken body, did Hisa see who it was.

"Nawaki!"

"No." Naruto said, his voice shaking "Not Nawaki. His uncle, Itachi Uchiha."

"My Naraka Path." Obito added.

Quick as lighting, Itachi scooped up Neji's body. Behind him, a gate appeared, one Hisa was familiar with. Images of Kawa's dead eyes flashed before her, and she struggled to push them away. Itachi tossed Neji's body into the mouth of the King of Hell, and five seconds later Neji was back, as good as new.

Obito turned to Naruto, a smirk clear in his eyes.

"I heard that Sasuke was coming here. I'm afraid that won't do. How do you think he'd react if, say, his brother told him to go back to the Uchiha District?"

Itachi turned and leapt off the roof. Naruto moved to follow him, but then he hesitated, looking between his family and Obito.

"Go on." Obito Hyuga said "We can handle him for now."

His eyes flickered to Hinata, and she gave a small nod. He gave the Uchiha one last glare, before jumping off and following Itachi.

Hinata stepped out in front of her children, getting into the Gentle Fist fighting stance.

"Obito, don't attack until I do. Hisa, only attack from a distance, got it?"

"I'm afraid that won't do either." Obito Uchiha said. "You see, I heard Neji here has a son. Didn't your boy say that his son was somewhere in this building? How do you think he'd feel about finally meeting his father?"

Neji blasted a hole through the ceiling, then jumped through it. Hisa noticed Hinata's pained expression.

"Go." she said "Tenten's fighting, so Hizashi's all alone. He needs your help more than we do."

"I won't leave you two against Obito Uchiha." Hinata said.

"Trust us." Obito said gently "It's two against one, and Naruto should be back soon as well. You can't let Hizashi die, and you definitely can't let Neji kill him."

Hinata glared at Obito Uchiha, who stepped to the side and gave a mock bow. She gave one last worried look to her children, before racing across the roof and jumping through the hole.

Hisa stood shoulder to shoulder with her brother, and together, they attacked.

!

Sasuke was pissed. Years ago, he had offered to kill Obito Uchiha, but Naruto had disagreed, saying that Obito was a good person. Now, the village was in ruins, and Sasuke knew exactly who was responsible. As soon as he got to the Hokage's Tower-

Sasuke froze. A figure was running towards him, one that he would recognize anywhere. It was impossible, but his sharingan didn't lie. His brother was running towards him.

How was this possible? How was Itachi alive? The coldly practical part of his mind tried to give him an answer, but he didn't want to hear it. Itachi dedicated his life to the protection of Konoha. Now that it was being attacked, why wouldn't he defend it? He probably had some jutsu that reanimates his body if a certain amount of Konoha gets destroyed.

Sasuke began to move again, first a few steps, then a jog. Itachi had come to a stop, and Sasuke could see that he was holding something big and wriggly. It was wearing a green flax jacket.

Sasuke froze again. Why was Itachi strangling a Konoha shinobi? Once again, the coldly practical part of his mind tried to give him the answer, but Sasuke refused to listen. Only when he had full proof, would he believe that Itachi was on the side of the attackers.

Behind Itachi, the King of Hell appeared, and Sasuke watched as the shinobi's soul was sucked into hell.

So, that was that then. Itachi was attacking Konoha.

The coldly practical part of his mind took over, and he ran towards Itachi, his sword out. Itachi turned towards him, and Sasuke had to struggle to control his anger when he saw the one Rinnegan and one Sharingan in Itachi's eyes. Obito was going to die.

"Sasuke." Itachi said, and Sasuke choked. How the fuck did Itachi still have his own voice? _It's not really him, it's not really him._

He struggled to maintain his controlled expression, and pushed his sword next to Itachi's neck. Itachi looked at him with such pity, that it made him want to scream.

"Stop it Sasuke." Itachi said, sounding so like himself, it was almost as if Sasuke was eight all over again. "Don't torture yourself, we both know that you can't do it."

"I can." Sasuke said, angry at how childlike he sounded.

Itachi reached up and grabbed the shaking blade of the sword, before gently lifting it off his shoulder. The blade fell to Sasuke's side, where he let it stay.

"I'm glad I found you Sasuke." Itachi said, and suddenly his voice sounded much more urgent. "Obito Uchiha is controlling me. He placed an extra jutsu on me that would let my soul have consciousness in this body. I can talk to you, but I can't control my actions. He intended to use it against you, an extra way to torture you."

His hand swiped upwards, and suddenly a kunai was going towards Sasuke's heart. Sasuke's sword moved again, knocking the kunai out of Itachi's hand.

"I tried breaking free, but nothing works." Itachi went on, his hand reaching for another kunai. "I'm being forced to destroy Konoha, by the man I once worked to take down. It's quite ironic."

!

"Who's he talking to?" Hisa whispered

"I'm not sure." her brother whispered back "He's just standing there, muttering to himself. Do you thing we should attack again?"

"Ok." Hisa whispered "On three, we-"

Obito Uchiha stuck out his arm and sent an Almighty Push towards them, which Hisa absorbed with the Preta Path. He then continued to talk to himself.

"I can't believe this is the guy I'm named after." her brother muttered "A crazy old man who tries to give his opponents jutsu like the Mangekyo Sharingan and talks to himself."

"Don't let your guard down." Hisa said sharply "He's playing mind games with us… I think."

Behind his mask, Obito smiled.

!

Another kunai, this time towards Sasuke's eye. Sasuke didn't even move, just used Kamui to absorb it.

"Sasuke," Itachi said "I know what Obito's intentions are. He's destroying Konoha as a mere distraction. The real reason he's here is so that Nawaki can fight you without interference. Nawaki's currently heading towards the Uchiha District, and that's where you need to go. The only way to stop Obito is to fight Nawaki. Obito came here prepared for all of you, I'm afraid you have to play along."

"Stop it." Sasuke whispered "Stop it Obito. I know you're controlling him. Stop it."

"I don't have time for this Sasuke." Itachi snapped "You need to get going."

Sasuke stared coldly at him.

"No."

"Then kill me."

Sasuke's retort died on his lips, as he stared at his brother in shock.

"What?"

"You heard me. If you won't end this attack for good, then at least kill me. I have the ability to restore the other paths back to full power, so if I go, then you only have to kill them once."

"What? But…"

"Sasuke." Itachi said gently "It's really me, Itachi. Obito is in control of most of my body, but he unknowingly gave me enough consciousness that I can influence certain parts. The only reason I haven't killed you yet is that Obito needs you to fight Nawaki. Because of his hesitance to seriously injure you, I can make my attacks sloppy. You're the only one who can kill me, and you're also the only one who can stop the attack. I understand that it's hard for you to see me like this, but I need you to decide. Either kill me and join the fight against the other paths, or go to the Uchiha District and end this."

Sasuke simply stared. He knew he needed to move. Itachi needed him. But he couldn't process it all.

Itachi's hand reached down for another kunai, but stopped halfway. Sasuke frowned, one hand on his sword. Itachi's hand was shaking, shuddering up and down. Sasuke watched as his hand curled inwards, with only two fingers remaining. Trembling, Itachi raised his hand until it was level with Sasuke's forehead. Sasuke was frozen, staring with a mixture of terror and longing at Itachi's two fingers.

Itachi poked him in the forehead.

"Please." he said.

Sasuke snapped. He could put up a million walls around his emotions, could close himself off from everyone and make himself seem like a cold, arrogant bastard, but his biggest weakness would always be his love for his family.

He swung his sword upwards, chopping Itachi's arm off. Panting, he stared at Itachi, waiting for a reaction. His brother regarded him with such familiar calmness; it made him want to scream. He turned, and ran, ran straight back towards the Uchiha District. He would fight and kill Nawaki, just as long as Itachi would die, and stay dead.

Once he was out of sight, a sinister smile appeared on Itachi's face. _It's such a shame, _thought Obito, _that one so talented would have such a huge, yet simple weakness._

!

Hinata raced through the building, pausing for a second to scan a room, then moving on. So far, she had found one terrified genin, but no Hizashi or Neji. She could sense her children's chakra signatures up on the roof, and they seemed fine. But she couldn't leave them alone for too long.

She spun in a circle, her Byakugan scanning the area. Nothing appeared.

Where was Neji?

!

"Squad five, follow me. Squad Six, follow that Naruto. No, not that one, the one with the Kyubi chakra. Hurry, let's go!"

Tenten ran straight down the lane, a squad of chunin and one or two jonin following behind her. According to various shinobi, two of the village attackers, who one man recognized as Zabuza and Haku, were in this area. Judging from the various beasts destroying buildings, one of them was the Animal Path.

She noticed a shadow coming closer, and skidded to a halt. She was just in time, as a figure landed with a thump a few metres in front of her. Once the smoke cleared, she recognized the figure.

"Squad five, retreat and take a different path. Mei, you're in charge. Leave this one to me."

"But Captain-"

"Don't argue, just do it. Trust me on this."

The shinobi glanced nervously at each other, but in the end, they left. In twos and threes, they ran back down the alley, until only Tenten was left.

She gave her full attention to the figure, who walked towards her with a grin on his face. That grin calmed her, because she knew that he never smiled like that. It wasn't him, just his body.

"Hello Neji." she said. "Or should I say, hello Obito."

Still grinning, Neji's arm opened up, and a chakra cannon pointed directly at Tenten's head.


	57. Chapter 57

**A/N I've fixed the previous chapter. Sorry to all those who were confused.**

He was too late. Naruto had always been too late when it came to Sasuke. But he couldn't help a curse when he finally found Itachi, alone.

"What did you do to him Obito?" he growled.

Itachi smiled, so smug, and so alien on his face.

"Sasuke believes that he has had a conversation with his brother, who I supposedly gave a small consciousness to. In reality, I was the one talking to him all along. I have to say, my acting skills were quite good."

"You…" Naruto was lost for words. He had thought that because Obito had helped end the war, and defeated Madara along with Kakashi, he had changed. But the reality, which he saw now, was that Obito had always followed his own beliefs. This version of Obito reminded him of Danzo. A bad person yes, but one who truly believed that they were doing good.

Itachi opened his mouth, but then he frowned.

"How has your Sage Mode not ran out yet?"

Naruto grinned, which actually made Itachi take a step back.

"I have nine hundred and seventy eight Sage Mode clones currently defending the village, and more are being made every minute. All I need to do is release one of these clones and all their energy is mine. I'm not going to run out for a long time."

"I see." Obito said "In that case, I suppose I can finally find out if Itachi Uchiha can beat you when you're in Sage Mode."

!

Hisa was debating whether or not Obito would notice if she walked up and stuck a kunai into him, when he struck. He ran towards them, and although both she and her brother attacked, he simply ran through them. As soon as he was fully through, she turned, but she was already too late.

"Let's take this elsewhere." Obito said, his sharingan creating a vacuum. Hisa aimed her hand at his eye, but it was simply sucked through. Her arm was sucked in, as was her brother's. The rest of her body followed.

She landed with a thump, and scrambled to her feet as quickly as she could. Looking around, she realised that they were in one of the training grounds that she regularly went to with Kawa. It was an abandoned quarry that Konoha had taken hold of years ago. There were plenty of rocks around her, which she quickly pushed away until she was standing in a wide circle of dirt. Her brother landed next to her a few seconds later.

She looked around, but couldn't see Obito Uchiha anywhere.

"Duck!" her brother yelled, just as a kunai whizzed over her head.

Spinning around, she found Obito Uchiha standing behind her, his mask completely gone and a look of annoyance on his face.

"I seem to have brought a spare." he said.

Which one of them was the spare? Hisa glanced worriedly at her brother. If Obito truly wanted her to have the Mangekyo, would her brother's death be enough to cause it? She was determined to never find out.

Obito flung his hand out, but to Hisa's surprise, all he did was move a boulder. She was even more surprised when she saw what had been hiding behind the boulder.

"Hizashi!" she gasped, staring at her second cousin.

The boy scuttled over to them, looking absolutely terrified. Hisa couldn't blame him. Obito Uchiha was one of the top-five most feared people in the world, with Madara Uchiha probably being Number 1.

"I'm so sorry!" Hizashi stammered "I really didn't mean to come here. I was running onto the roof when I noticed you guys being sucked in. I tried to pull you out, but I just got sucked in as well."

"Don't worry about it Hizashi." Obito Hyuga said cheerfully "Just go find another boulder to hide behind until this is over. We've got this under control."

"Yes, definitely." Hisa added "Being transported out of the village centre and away from all the powerful shinobi who could help us was something we were totally prepared for."

Hizashi didn't look too reassured, but he quickly ran for cover behind a few of the nearest boulders. Once they were sure he was safe, Hisa and her brother turned their attention back to Obito.

Obito Uchiha's hand reached out, and with a yell, her brother was sent flying into the air. Hisa shot her own Almighty Push towards Obito, but he simply absorbed it. She charged, but he had already flung her brother into a boulder. He fell to the ground, and remained there, unmoving.

"Obito!" she screamed.

"Don't waste your breath." the Uchiha informed her "He's alive. But I need him out of the way until I can subdue you."

She scowled at him and reached into her pocket, before realising in horror that none of her special kunai were there. Obito stared at her in amusement.

"Looking for these?" he asked, fishing them out of his pocket "I decided that it would be easier to keep you still if you weren't teleporting everywhere. Don't worry, I left everything else on you when I transported you here."

"Cheater." she muttered, giving her brother another worried glace. He still wasn't moving, and she could see blood staining the dirt around him. She hoped that the wound wasn't too serious, as it wasn't likely that a medic would appear anytime soon.

From behind another boulder, a few shuriken shot towards Obito. He simply used Kamui to absorb them, but it made Hisa smile. It seemed that Hizashi wasn't quite comfortable with doing nothing.

Obito turned to her with a sadistic glint in his eyes.

"Now then," he said "Which is the best way to subdue you?

!

Hinata gave up searching for Neji when she noticed that the roof was empty. Racing up to it, she arrived at the same time as Naruto.

"Hinata! Where are the kids?" Naruto asked, at the exact same time as Hinata said "Naruto! Where's Sasuke?"

"I was too late." Naruto explained bitterly. "Obito used Itachi's body to trick Sasuke into believing that his brother was talking to him. Sasuke's going back to the Uchiha District to fight Nawaki. I hope it works. I took care of Itachi anyway. He won't be bothering Sasuke again."

He took another long look, as if he was hoping that his children would suddenly appear.

"What happened to the kids?"

Hinata bit her lip, glancing around.

"I'm not sure. Obito Uchiha sent Neji after Hizashi, so I went after him. I couldn't find him though. It's strange; I was watching most of this building the whole time. There's no way, they could have gotten off this roof without me knowing."

"Obito must have teleported." Naruto said "We need to find them as soon as possible. My clones can deal with the rest of the paths, because I think our kids are in the most danger."

"Do you think Obito meant what he said?" Hinata asked as they leaped off the roof "Will he really give Hisa the Mangekyo Sharingan?"

"All I know," Naruto said "Is that I love Hisa more than my own life, but she has the unique ability to piss off everyone that she meets. Whatever Obito's intentions were at the start of the fight, I'm pretty sure Hisa will soon make it personal."

!

"So tell me," Hisa said conversationally "Are you still doing all this because the twelve year old girl you had a crush on died? Because that's just sad, and slightly paedophilic."

Obito glared at her, hatred clear in his eyes.

"You remind me of my old teammate Kakashi, perhaps slightly more irritating. However, there is a good chance that I will not kill you today." he said slowly "But one day, when you are old, and no longer needed, I pray that you will die a long and painful death. For today, I will simply have to satisfy myself by making you suffer."

"Well, I _will _kill you today, and if I have the time, I'll make your death slow and painful. That's a promise."

Obito smiled, but there was no joy in it. He looked at her like a shark would look at its prey.

And then he was gone.

She scanned the area frantically with her sharingan. He was nowhere to be seen. But Hisa knew he hadn't disappeared. If he wasn't to her left, right, or above her, then he was probably…

She aimed her hand down at the ground.

"Almighty Push!"

The ground cracked open like a broken plate. From the dust and clumps of dirt, Hisa saw something black emerge. She tried to aim her hand, but something tickled it. She looked down, just in time to see a wire wrap tightly around her hand. Following the wire, she saw that it led to a kunai which was buried up to its hilt in a boulder. She tried tugging her hand free, but it was tucked in tight.

She reached for a kunai with her free hand, but with a sinking horror she felt wire pull tight around it as well. She turned, just in time to watch Obito dig another kunai into a different boulder. Her hands were trapped.

She tried to aim her palm out, but the wire was tight around her fingers. Would her Deva powers still work? Obito caught her eye.

"Don't even think about it." he said coolly. "It would rip your arm to shreds."

Even though she despised this man completely, she knew that he was telling the truth this time. He tugged the wire tighter, wrapping it from her fingers to her shoulders. She tried to use her push, but it wouldn't work. Obito held a kunai between two of his fingers, the blade pointed at her head.

"Any last words?" he asked.

Was he really going to kill her? Hadn't he said he wouldn't? This was the most confusing battle she had ever been in. Most of the time, when people said they wanted to kill her they meant it. However, two could play at Obito's game.

"I do." she said, her voice trembling "Mom and Dad would kill me if they heard me say this, but I guess I have no choice."

Obito came closer, and Hisa could see he was interested. She forced herself to look as helpless as possible.

"What is it?" Obito asked "What is of such importance that your own parents don't know about it? If you think it'll save your life, then spit it out."

She dropped her head, so that is faced the ground. Obito leant closer, a smirk on his face. With a smirk of her own, she looked back up at him.

"Go fuck yourself." she said. "Almighty Push!"

She didn't try to free herself. Instead, she sent the push forward from the tips of her fingers. It didn't have the same range, but judging from Obito's expression as it hit him full force in the stomach, it still had the same power. He tumbled backwards, before slamming into a boulder. When he stumbled back on his feet, he looked furious.

"Goodbye and good riddance, Hisa Uzumaki." he spat.

_So he didn't mean all the stuff about the Mangekyo after all. _she thought, watching as he flung the kunai. She didn't try to kid herself that he would miss. He had the Sharingan, and he had aimed it straight at her forehead.

In the back of her mind, something was nagging her. Something to do with her Rinnegan, a last resort. However, she shut it out. After the genjutsu, she wasn't too happy with letting her Rinnegan do anything outside her comfort zone. She would rather die than risk losing control.

With her sharingan, she was able to notice how careful Obito had been about the wires. The kunai was narrowly out of the range of each of her hands, trapped as they were. She could try and use her Asura Path, but she would have to disconnect her entire arm, and she didn't even know if that was possible.

She thought about closing her eyes, but instead she stared straight at Obito, a smirk still on her face.

_Not a bad way to die._ she thought, watching as the kunai came straight towards her.

!

When he reached the Uchiha District, no one was there. Nawaki didn't panic. He had come too far to panic. Instead, he drew his sword, activated his sharingan, and waited.

He didn't have to wait long.

One second there was nothing in front of him, the next, Sasuke was standing there, as if he had been there all along. Nawaki was impressed. Not nervous or scared, but impressed.

"Nawaki." Sasuke said coldly "You are under arrest for attacking Konoha. Will you come quietly, or will I have to use force?"

"It's Nawaki Uchiha and you know it." Nawaki said, equally cold "And no, I'll only come quietly after you're dead, _father._"

In his head, a mini Hisa was shaking her head and muttering: _So cliché. _He gritted his teeth and ignored her.

"I would tell you that vengeance is pointless, but sadly, I can see that you take after me. Words won't work with you, so I'll go straight to force."

Quick as the lightning that had pierced Sakura, twenty shuriken shot towards Nawaki. Nawaki used kunai to knock each shuriken out of the sky. Sasuke gazed at him, emotionless.

Then his sword was swinging at Nawaki. Nawaki flipped over his head, using his own sword to balance on Sasuke's. He swung his leg towards Sasuke's head. Sasuke grabbed his leg, and used it to slam Nawaki into the ground. Nawaki quickly tumbled backwards before Sasuke could stab him. He put his hands together in a seal.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu"

Sasuke stared at him, as if doubting Nawaki's ability to hurt him with a mere shadow clone. Nawaki grinned, holding his hand out. In a matter of seconds, he was holding a swirling orb of chakra.

"Rasengan." he snarled, charging at Sasuke.

Sasuke still didn't seem to think he was dangerous. Instead of using his Mangekyo Sharingan, he simply jumped into the air. Nawaki was prepared for that. The clone holding the Rasengan disappeared in a puff.

The real Nawaki was behind Sasuke, and stabbed him through the heart while he was in middair. They crashed to the ground, Nawaki on top.

Panting, Nawaki kept both hands on the hilt of the sword, looking down at Sasuke's motionless body. He let out a breath he hadn't even known he was holding. Was it really this easy?

He stiffened when he felt the blade pushing into his neck.

"Did you really think…" Sasuke spoke from behind him "…that I would go down to the likes of you? Never in a million years will you beat me. You're just like your mother Nawaki. She actually thought that she could stand against me, and it cost her."

Rage flooded through Nawaki. His vision went red, and suddenly his Rinnegan pulsed, sending Sasuke flying backwards. Trembling with anger, Nawaki stood up and grabbed his sword. Any hesitation he had had before about killing this man was gone. It didn't matter that Sasuke was his father.

He was going to kill him.


	58. Chapter 58

Sasuke got back to his feet, keeping the same cold look on his face. Nawaki gripped his sword tighter, but neither of them moved.

Then suddenly Sasuke was in front of him, his sword swinging down towards Nawaki's right shoulder. Nawaki dodged backwards, but the blade managed to clip him. He cursed. Sasuke's speed was something he wasn't quite used to yet.

While Sasuke's sword was pointed towards the ground, Nawaki charged, aiming his fist at Sasuke's face. With a cry of rage, he jumped into the air, swinging his arm back before slamming it forward. Sasuke pushed Nawaki's fist aside as if it was nothing, before kicking Nawaki hard in the ribs, sending him tumbling backwards again.

Sasuke stared at Nawaki's crumpled body. Reaching into his pocket, he grabbed a shuriken. Before he could throw it, Nawaki's body disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving a log behind.

Sasuke spun around in a circle, but Nawaki was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him. Nawaki walked out from behind a pillar, staring at Sasuke with dark eyes. Sasuke was slightly shaken by the starling resemblance to Itachi, but made sure not to show it. Nawaki wasn't Itachi, he wasn't anyone. There was no reason for Sasuke not to kill him.

Nawaki swung his sword, and a thin line of fire shot towards Sasuke. He quickly covered his sword in lightning chakra, and used it to part the fire. Although Nawaki's fire style was surprisingly strong, his lightning style was far more advanced.

One thing that was worrying Sasuke slightly was Nawaki's chakra. Sasuke wasn't a sensor, and he had never really paid attention to Nawaki's chakra signature before, but at the start of the fight it had felt normal enough. However, after Nawaki had used the Rinnegan, his chakra had gotten more intense, and a strange mixture of killing intent and dark chakra was emanating from him. He seemed colder than before.

Sasuke couldn't afford to let that distract him. He charged at Nawaki, his sword humming from the lightning chakra. Nawaki dodged his first two strikes, but the third one managed to slash his shoulder. Sasuke knew that the lightning had a numbing effect, but he doubted that cut had been deep enough.

He jumped high into the air. Gripping his sword with two hands and aiming straight for Nawaki's head, he let gravity add to his speed. Nawaki's eyes widened, and he began making hand-seals.

"Water Style: Water Wall!"

For a second Sasuke thought he would make it, but the wall shot up and hit him in the stomach, sending him skidding back.

Sasuke quickly cast three genjutsu, but it only took Nawaki a few seconds to break through them. Sasuke felt Nawaki cast six genjutsu , but he broke through five of them. The sixth one, he entered, wondering what Nawaki had come up with.

A whirlwind of shuriken was around him, moving so quickly that his sharingan could barely keep up. He wondered if Nawaki would let him move in the genjutsu, and tried to move his arm. He remained motionless, but the shuriken started cutting him.

He couldn't let that happen. With ease, Sasuke gained control over a portion of the genjutsu, allowing himself to move his arms. He conjured his own shuriken, and shot each one of Nawaki's out of the sky. He could feel Nawaki's shock. Did the child really think that a genjutsu like this could hold him? The only reason he had entered was so he could gain control, and hopefully trap Nawaki in his own genjutsu. It would be the simplest way to capture the boy without killing him.

His eyes found Nawaki, standing a few metres away from him. Of course, he probably was standing somewhere completely different outside the genjutsu, but that didn't matter to Sasuke right now. Nawaki's genjutsu was a strong one to break out of, but quite easy to manipulate once you were in it.

Snakes shot out of the ground, wrapping around Nawaki's legs. They made their way up his body, tightening as they went. Nawaki gazed at him emotionlessly. Right in front of Sasuke's eyes, Nawaki transformed into a flock of black birds, making Sasuke's blood run cold.

_Crows. Itachi's crows. _Sasuke forced himself to calm down. He looked closer at the birds, and realised that they weren't crows after all. The feathers were sleeker, they were bigger and their wings were pointed. They were ravens. _Not Itachi's crows._

He felt something stab him in the lower back, and was unsurprised to find that it was Nawaki's sword. It was a simple matter to dissolve into snakes and solidify a few metres away, but Sasuke was starting to realise that Nawaki was more skilled with genjutsu then he had anticipated. Perhaps this wasn't the easiest option after all.

The next trick he tried was difficult. While keeping his mind mostly in the genjutsu, Sasuke's real hand reached down and grabbed some kunai. He let Nawaki gain a little more control in the genjutsu so that he could look around the real world and see where Nawaki was actually standing. Once he had found him, he flung the kunai. Back in the genjutsu, Nawaki had managed to stab him through the heart, and getting control back was a little harder than before. But Sasuke managed it, and once again his body turned into snakes. He risked a glance at the real world, wondering why nothing was happening. Hadn't Nawaki been hit yet?

Sasuke's eyes widened in shock. In the real world, Nawaki had deflected all the kunai with one of his own. How was that possible? It took a huge level of skill to fight a genjutsu battle as well as a real battle. As he got back to the genjutsu, he realised how Nawaki had done it. The genjutsu was slowly breaking. Still, it was impressive that he had noticed the kunai at all.

Nawaki broke the genjutsu completely and leapt back, flinging a few shuriken at Sasuke. Although straight out of a genjutsu, Sasuke managed to react in time, dodging the shuriken and flinging a kunai of his own. He could see Nawaki's frustration grow.

"Enough of this." the boy growled "I'm going all out."

Sasuke's only reaction was to raise an eyebrow.

Nawaki's left arm opened up, and turned into a chakra canon. He fired three quick blasts at Sasuke. While Sasuke dodged them, he heard Nawaki slam his hand down on the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Sasuke looked up just in time to see a giant rhinoceros charge at him. He noticed Nawaki's look of gleeful triumph. He couldn't dodge it in time. With a sigh, Sasuke let his eyes change.

The rhino charged headfirst into the ribcage of Sasuke's Susanoo. Sasuke let the Susanoo grow one hand, and used it to fling the rhino up into the air. Nawaki didn't seem to care. He slammed his hands on the ground again, and this time he summoned two dogs. Sasuke knew what kind of dogs they were. They would keep multiplying every time he killed them. Instead, he let the dogs eyes meet his, and cast a genjutsu on them. The dogs stopped their charge and stared around in confusion.

This was the only opening that Sasuke needed. His Susanoo grew another hand, this time it carried a sword. He quickly shaped another sword in his first hand, made out of Amaterasu flames. He stabbed each of the dogs in their underbelly, sending them flying into the sky after the rhino.

He looked up, and frowned. Where had Nawaki gone? Sasuke felt something slam into the Susanoo's ribs from behind, and stumbled slightly.

"Rasengan!" Nawaki yelled

Sasuke frowned. That had hurt. He couldn't let Nawaki do that again. He created a third Susanoo hand that grabbed the Rasengan and flung both it and Nawaki down the street. Sasuke let the third hand disappear, as he was more comfortable fighting with two. Nawaki crashed into a building, but Sasuke doubted that he was too badly hurt.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, three Nawakis charged out of the debris, each of them carrying a Rasengan. Sasuke's left hand sword morphed into a bow, and the right hand flames turned into Amaterasu arrows. He shot two out, hitting the left and right Nawaki. Both of them disappeared in a puff of smoke, but now the middle one was too close for Sasuke to hit him. With a curse, Sasuke leapt out of the Susanoo, lightning crackling around his left hand.

"Rasengan!"

"Chidori!"

The two jutsu met, but neither gave in. Sasuke could see Nawaki gritting his teeth. He pushed more chakra into the Chidori, and was rewarded when Nawaki gave a small groan. Suddenly, he noticed Nawaki's left hand changing. A chakra cannon pointed straight at his chest.

Nawaki fired.

!

Tenten ducked, letting the blast go over her head. It crashed into the wall of a-hopefully deserted-house. She whipped her head around, glaring at Neji's grinning face. The Asura Path was not a good opponent for her, considering the fact that its main power was the strength of its weapons. It also had complete accuracy thanks to the Sharingan.

She quickly ran up the wall and onto the roof. Behind her, she could hear some sort of humming. Turning around, she realised that Neji was flying. Jets of fire were shooting out of his feet, propelling him into the air. He now had four hands, and each one was open, with small missiles aimed at her.

He started firing, creating fist-sized holes in the roof. Tenten dodged them all, trying to think of a strategy. She reached behind her and grabbed a staff from her back. Neji seemed to grin harder at that, probably wondering what she could do with a staff. Tenten grinned back. Once upon a time, Neji had dubbed her battle smile "The bloodthirsty grin that would even freeze Madara in his tracks." This had caused Lee to wonder if freezing Edo Tensei was a viable way to defeat them, which had caused Tenten to roll her eyes and get back to fighting Neji, which was what she should be doing now.

Neji fired another few missiles. As they made their way towards Tenten, she started to twirl her staff rapidly. Soon, she had a mini-twister in front of her. The missiles shot towards it, and Tenten used the air to repel them.

She snuck up behind Neji, ready to stab a kunai into his back. However, just as she was about to do that, he turned around and blocked the kunai with a knife of his own. Bizarrely, it was sticking out of his elbow.

Still grinning, Neji's hand started to grow. It swelled up, until it was around three times the size of Tenten. His other hand started to do the same. Neji swung his fist backwards, and Tenten heard a metallic clang when it crashed into the wall. If that thing hit her, she would die.

Neji swung his fist again, aiming straight at Tenten. As it came closer, she calculated that she wouldn't have time to move out of range. Her only option was to block it. She pulled out a scroll. Neji's fist came at her with all the force of a wrecking ball. It swung down and-

-and bounced off the giant mace whirling around Tenten's head. Neji's eyes widened, while Tenten merely grinned wider, swinging the ten-ton mace around and around. She gave it one final swing before letting it go. It flew straight at Neji and hit him in the chest. Although his hands had grown huge, the rest of his body had stayed the same. The giant spiked ball caught him and sent him flying off the building. He crashed into the house opposite the roof, with the mace landing on top of him, effectively crushing him.

Tenten's triumph was short lived. Neji's hands, now back to their original size, hadn't been trapped under the mace. Each of them shot at her like a missile. They clamped down on her wrists and kept going, pulling her backwards. She cursed and struggled but they kept a tight grip. She slammed into the wall of a tall building, with Neji's hands keeping her pinned there.

In front of her, the giant mace started to shake. The building Neji was under on started to crack, and soon Tenten saw why. Neji was exploding parts of his body to escape. The mace held steady, but the building wasn't as strong. The explosions caused it to collapse, and then Neji was free.

He jumped over to where Tenten was pinned, aiming the chakra cannon at her head. This time, she couldn't dodge. With a small sigh, she stared straight into Obito's eyes. At least they weren't-

The Sharingan began to morph, until she was looking straight into Neji's Byakugan. He stared at her so gently, a look only she, Lee and probably Hinata had ever seen. She snarled in response. At this point, she wanted to live far more than she should, simply so she could kill Obito.

The chakra cannon fired. Tenten closed her eyes.

She felt something jerk her free from the wall, and suddenly she was being pressed against someone's chest. She opened her eyes, but all she could see was… green?

"Lee!" she gasped

"Tenten!" came the reply from above her. "You are alright! I was worried that Obito had hurt you. I must say, his style of fighting is most certainly not youthful."

"Yeah." she muttered "Un-youthful. That's exactly what I would have called it."

She felt herself being put down, and suddenly she could see again. She was a few blocks away from where she had been fighting Neji. Also, she and Lee weren't alone. She tensed up, but relaxed once she realised who it was.

"You're Yoshino." she said, staring at the child "Temari and Shikamaru's kid, right?"

The little girl nodded. She couldn't be more than eight. Tenten wondered why the hell she wasn't in the safety area with the other Academy Students.

"Lee?" she asked.

He grinned.

"Since I was already in charge of Gaara's children, Temari asked me to mind Yoshino while she fought. As always, I rose to the challenge! I shall protect young Yoshino with my life!"

"And so you bring her with you to fight S-Rank criminals. Figures." Tenten searched the roof again. "So where are the little monsters anyway?"

"My cousins are fighting this weird transvestite kid!" Yoshino explained "He can summon animals _and _has an ice kekkei genkai. But Naruko will beat him!"

"That's nice." Tenten muttered absently, still searching the area with her eyes. Where was Neji?

Her question was answered when he appeared on the roof next to theirs. Tenten scrambled to her feet, tugging out the first weapon she could find, which was a katana.

"Get ready." she warned "He's coming back for Round Two."

!

Time seemed to slow down for Sasuke. The chakra bomb was coming towards him, but he couldn't defend himself. His eyes told him that Kamui would be too slow. Amaterasu wouldn't stop it. However his Susanoo…

Quickly, he got rid of the Susanoo behind him, and formed a new, complete version, around him. He was just in time. The chakra Nawaki had shot burst on contact, leaving Sasuke completely unharmed.

Nawaki stumbled backwards in shock, and Sasuke struck. He let the Susanoo vanish again, grabbing his sword. He kicked Nawaki's legs out from under him, and Nawaki fell to the ground. Sasuke's sword crackled with lightning chakra. He slashed each of Nawaki's arms, and each of his legs. Nawaki tried to stand, but collapsed. Before he could get back up again, Sasuke placed the tip of his sword just under Nawaki's chin.

Nawaki's eyes met his, and Sasuke was struck by the familiarity in those eyes. They were as cold as his own, glaring up at him with the same arrogance that a young Sasuke had once had. Even though he was about to die, his son was determined to die with pride.

Sasuke's blade wavered. All it would take would be one little push, and Nawaki would be dead. He was going to kill his son- no, not his son- _Sakura's _son. Sasuke couldn't decide if that made him feel better or worse.

"This is incredible." Sasuke said, mostly to himself. "I have killed more people that anyone I know. I once killed a five-year old child, simply because his parents were planning to use him as a weapon. And yet, here you are, completely immobilised, and I still can't make my blade move forward. It's ridiculous."

Nawaki stared coldly up at him. Sasuke didn't even know why he was telling him this, but he kept going.

"I don't even _know _you. Not really. You look like Itachi and you have my eyes, but I've only had one conversation with you in your whole life. I shouldn't feel this way about you. I should be able to kill you without batting an eyelid and yet… I can't. I can't kill you."

Sasuke looked down at his sword, and then he tossed it away in disgust. He would simply bring Nawaki to the station and then-

Something cold slid into his stomach, and his whole body exploded with pain. Sasuke felt blood welling in his mouth, and quickly spat it out before he choked on it. He stared down in disbelief at the blood-_his _blood- trickling along the sword. How had he not cut deeply enough into Nawaki's left arm?

"That's a shame." Nawaki said, holding the hilt of the sword firmly "Because I'm afraid I don't feel the same way about killing _you._"


End file.
